Pašinjan: Turks go “on the path of genocide” again
In an interview with Le Figaro, Armenian Prime Minister Pashinjan accused Turkey of supporting the Azerbaijani army in the battle for Nagorno-Karabakh with fighters, drones and other military equipment. According to him, it also sent military advisers and “mercenaries and terrorists” from northern Syria into battle. “We have evidence,” Pasinjan assured.
“They use Turkish drones and (F-16 fighters) to bomb Nagorno-Karabakh civilian areas,” he added. Reuters reported that the Armenian prime minister did not provide any specific evidence.
Pashinjan further accused Turkey of being responsible for the escalation of the conflict. “Turkey wants to strengthen its role and influence in the South Caucasus region and thus change the status quo, which has been in force for more than a century,” said the Prime Minister of Armenia. According to him, Ankara wants to fulfill the dream of a new “sultanate”, and thus threatens the stability of the entire region.
According to Pasinjan, the current situation is worse than the Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes in 2016. “It would be more appropriate to compare it with what happened in 1915, when more than 1.5 million Armenians were massacred during the first genocide of the 20th century. “Said the prime minister. “The Turkish state, which continues to deny the past, is once again embarking on a path of genocide,” he added.
Turkey rejects the term genocide for the massacres of Armenians during the First World War, even though it is used by dozens of countries, including the Czech Republic. Ankara attributes the high number of victims to war and famine. He also questions Armenian data on the death toll. According to her, between 300 and 500 thousand Armenians died.
–
Macron: The fighting involved jihadists from Syria who crossed Turkey
French President Emmanuel Macron also said at a summit in Brussels on Friday night that three hundred jihadists from northern Syria had joined the fighting for Nagorno-Karabakh, according to information from the French secret services. According to him, they crossed the Turkish city of Gaziantep.
Macron added that he intends to ask Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for an explanation. “It’s unacceptable,” he said. He also called on the North Atlantic Alliance, of which Turkey is a member, to address Turkish action in the South Caucasus. The Armenian diaspora has traditionally had a strong lobby in France, as well as in the United States and Russia.
Two French journalists from Le Monde, injured in Karabakh, were transported from Stepanakert to Yerevan at night, Interfax said, adding that doctors described the condition as serious. She recalled that French President Emmanuel Macron had promised for the journalists to send a plane to transport them home as soon as possible.
–
Yerevan is willing to negotiate a ceasefire
The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed its willingness to negotiate the resumption of a ceasefire through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
France, Russia and the United States, co-chairing the so-called OSCE Minsk Group, established in 1992 to help resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, called for an immediate ceasefire and resumption of diplomatic talks on Thursday. However, Turkish President Erdogan called the participation of Paris, Moscow and Washington in the negotiations unacceptable. He claims that they have not been interested in this region for thirty years.
After the first day of talks, the presidents and prime ministers of the European Union countries, who met at the summit in Brussels, also called for an end to the violence.
Between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Sunday morning fighting broke out over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is described as the worst since the 1990s. Dozens of people, including civilians, have already died. In them, Azerbaijan is trying to conquer its territory, part of which has the Republic of Arcach, which has not been recognized by anyone and the rest is occupied directly by Armenia. It is inhabited mainly by Armenians.
The Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, an enclave in southwestern Azerbaijan with a predominantly Armenian population, has long prevailed. The armed conflict erupted in 1988 during the existence of the Soviet Union, and Nagorno-Karabakh, with the support of Armenia, broke away from Azerbaijan in a bloody war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and resulted in hundreds of thousands of refugees.
– .
