ArmInfo. Turkey is trying to pretend that it is not involved in the Karabakh conflict when there are thousands of facts proving otherwise. There are Turkish drones, military equipment, F-16 fighters in Azerbaijan. Armenia's President Armen Sarkissian stated this in an interview with Al Jazeera TV.
Sarkissian recalled that historically Karabakh is a part of Armenia, thousands of Armenians have always lived in this territory. However, during the rule of Stalin, this territory was transferred to Azerbaijan by a willful decision. "In 1991, Karabakh expressed a desire to become an independent state, but Azerbaijan decided to send an army there, and the war began. The first truce was signed in 1994. After that, the international organization OSCE created the Minsk Group, which was supposed to deal with this issue, the USA, France and Russia became its co-chairs.
Over the past years, negotiations have been conducted on this platform, sometimes successfully, sometimes not very well. The purpose of these negotiations is to settle the Karabakh issue by peaceful means. Only in this way can the conflict be resolved.
The President noted that the situation is now complicated by the fact that Turkey is involved in the conflict, with its officers and mercenaries from Syria. There was a mechanism for resolving the conflict through negotiations between the two countries Artsakh and Azerbaijan, but now Turkey has intervened in the conflict.
As for the involvement of Armenians from Armenia, Sarkissian noted that "we cannot allow another genocide." "There are volunteers there who help their compatriots. But they did not come from a third country, as is the case with Azerbaijan. Turkey is engaged in ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Karabakh and the fact that volunteers want to help their brothers and sisters is not reprehensible. We will not allow another genocide," the President said.
As for Russia's mediation in this process, the President noted that Russia is one of the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, along with France and the United States. Moreover, Russia has good relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan and we are open for cooperation. We are ready to mediate from Russia. "Now representatives of various state bodies of Armenia are in touch with their Russian counterparts, including the relationship between the foreign ministries. The Prime Minister also communicates with the Russian President. Discussions are constantly underway, but there is no clear format so that mediation can be ascertained, "Sarkissian noted.
The President also said that Armenia is part of the CSTO and has never asked the structure for help. "We hope that the international community will put pressure on our neighbors - Azerbaijan and Turkey, and they will stop ethnic cleansing in Karabakh, and there will be no need to apply to the Organization. We also raised this issue with the leadership of NATO, since Turkey is a member of this organization and thus involved NATO in a conflict where the Organization has no direct interests," Sarkissian noted.
When asked whether Russia is ready to support Armenia, given the presence of a military base in the country, the president said that we did not turn to the Russian Federation for help, just as we did not turn to the CSTO member states. "Until we asked for help, we cannot say whether they are ready to help, although we have an agreement. But we don't want to escalate the situation. However, if the situation gets worse, the Caucasus will become the new Syria. If Turkey stops sending drones and F-16 fighters to the Armenian villages of Nagorno-Karabakh, the current war will lead to a definite outcome after a while. There is no military solution to this problem, and if we do not understand this, thousands of people will die on both sides," the President stressed. Sarkissian also noted that it takes time to recognize Artsakh, and the best way for this is dialogue between Karabakh and Azerbaijan. According to the President, the final settlement is not the recognition of Karabakh by one or two countries, but the final solution made by Karabakh and Azerbaijan. The President also expressed the hope that other countries will not get involved in the conflict, and Turkey will also withdraw from it.
"The international community should put pressure on Turkey, since Ankara's actions resemble the 1915 Armenian Genocide. But the goal is clear, Turkey intends to carry out ethnic cleansing and expel Armenians from Karabakh, which is unacceptable. And if Ankara stops participating in the conflict, then the parties will return to the negotiating table. As long as the F-16 is shelling cities and villages, and Turkey is involved in the conflict, it is not possible to start negotiations. First of all, Turkey must be withdrawn from the conflict. Ankara should not destabilize the entire region by its actions. Turkey denies its intervention, but it is doing the same as in Syria, Libya and Iraq," Sarkissian said.
The President also called the statements of the Azerbaijani leadership that the Armenians could start bombing international energy pipelines as nonsense. These pipes were laid 20 years ago, and if we wanted to, we would have done it back then.