Friday, October 30 2020 19:39

ArmInfo.Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan answered questions from European media outlets The Telegraph (UK), European Post (Brussels), Foreign Policy (USA),  Tageblatt (Austria) and Il GҐornale (Italy).

The press service of the prime minister reported.  According to the source, Pashinyan noted that the main instigator of this war was Turkey, which transferred  mercenaries from Syria to Azerbaijan, as well as transferred part of  its armed forces, including military equipment, to Azerbaijan, as  well as transported certain armed formations from Pakistan.

"They set the task to take control of Nagorno-Karabakh by means of a  blitzkrieg. And, according to their calculations, this war should  have lasted a maximum of a week, 10 days, but Nagorno-Karabakh  continues to fight and will continue to fight for its rights. Since  this is not really a territorial dispute, Armenians have lived in  Nagorno-Karabakh for millennia, and all this time they were the  majority there.  There is a huge Armenian cultural heritage in  Nagorno-Karabakh: the 5th century church, the 8th, 10th, 13th century  Armenian churches. The first Armenian school was founded in  Nagorno-Karabakh. And the war, in fact, fixed the resistance of  Nagorno-Karabakh at this stage, fixed the imperial policy of Turkey.   Because it is quite possible to state that the problem now goes  beyond the logic and the framework of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem as  such.

And Turkey came here not so much to support Azerbaijan in the  settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as to continue its  imperial policy. What is now happening in the Caucasus is, in fact, a  continuation of the policy pursued by Turkey in the Mediterranean  with regard to Greece, Cyprus, Libya, Syria and Iraq. And I again  believe that this is an imperial policy, because in the South  Caucasus, the Armenians, in fact, are the last obstacle on the way of  Turkey to continue its imperial policy in the northeast and  southeast. My assessment remained the same. If the Western community  does not give an adequate assessment of Turkey's actions, then in the  near future they can wait for Turkey to appear near Vienna, "the  prime minister stressed.

As for the expectations from the EU, given that some countries are  blocking the introduction of sanctions against Turkey, Pashinyan  noted: `` We rather pin our hopes on those countries that are our  allies and which have allied obligations to Armenia, and we have  obligations to them. But I believe that the European Union should not  do something for us, this is its business. I have to think about the  security of Yerevan, Armenia and the Armenian people, the security of  Vienna is not part of my work, but if this happens, one should not  say that we did not warn them. There is a war going on in Europe that  began long ago. And this continues every day. If you do not notice  this war, if, say, artillery is not working there, this does not mean  that the war has not begun. This war is on. There are forces that  think the following: Europe has lived in prosperity for about 60  years, and this prosperity does not allow us to notice the war that  is going on in Europe today. Since, until the bombs go off in the  courtyards, in the houses, the successful person tends to be guided  by more desirable logic, this opens up a very wide field for many  forces>.  The prime minister gave an example to his words. He gave an  example from the events that took place in France.

When asked if the war could somehow be prevented, given that it began  after Pashinyan's power was established in Armenia, the latter noted  that the situation has practically not changed since 2011.

What else could I have done to prevent this war? I could not defend  the interests of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, I could concede. But  could this have prevented the war? According to this logic, no.  Because at the lowest point of this concession, Azerbaijan should  have demanded more. I recently drew a parallel between the Munich  Agreement and our situation, with the situation before the start of  World War II. The European powers thought that when Czechoslovakia  surrendered to Hitler, they would satisfy his appetite - there would  be no war. And what happened as a result: Hitler swallowed  Czechoslovakia. And there is another saying when they say that  "appetite comes with eating". Yes, if the Czech Republic had not  yielded to European leaders, if the war had started, the journalists  would have gathered and said: "What did you do wrong? You haven't  given up the Czech Republic. And they would say yes, they should have  been more flexible. They were flexible, but what did it actually do?  We do not intend to give up "Czechoslovakia" to anyone, the prime  minister stressed.

As for the possibility of Moscow's interference, the head of the  Cabinet of Ministers said that the issue of Russian interference can  be viewed in different ways. There is Russia, which is the  co-chairing country of the OSCE Minsk Group, and there is Russia,  which is Armenia's strategic partner. Moscow is the co-chair of the  OSCE Minsk Group, is a mediator, it must act in the logic of  balancing, which is understandable.  And I said that I was in favor  of the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the conflict zone. But  the problem is that the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the  conflict zone should be acceptable to all parties to the conflict. In  fact, this is acceptable for Armenia and for Karabakh, it can happen  in the event, as stated by the Russian colleagues, if Azerbaijan is  also "for". In general, any peacekeeper can be involved with the  consent of the parties. As for Moscow as a strategic partner of  Armenia, our Russian colleagues stated that in the event of a real  threat to the territorial integrity of Armenia, they will fulfill  their allied obligations, including military ones, "he noted,  stressing that, according to our position, the deployment of Russian  peacekeepers is optimal.

As for the shelling of Ganja, the prime minister stressed that the  question arises as to why Ganja is being shelled. , Pashinyan asked. He also noted  that the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army had military targets in Ganja  and was hitting military targets. Perhaps these military facilities  also affected civilian infrastructure. "But there is definitely no  military facility in the St. Ghazanchetsots church in Shushi," the  head of the cabinet. As for Armenia's expectations from Tehran, the  prime minister noted that Iran is our neighbor and friendly country.  "During this time, I had a telephone conversation with the President  of Iran, our Foreign Minister held consultations with the Iranian  Foreign Minister, and our other state bodies cooperate in analyzing  and assessing the situation. We have a common border, our border  guards are cooperating, "Pashinyan said.

When asked what the prime minister wants to say to the whole world,  he stressed: "I would like to say the following, unfortunately, since  the moment of , it was somewhere in the 2000s, the world press  began to present the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh as a territorial  dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In fact, the Nagorno-Karabakh  issue has nothing to do with a territorial dispute. Meanwhile, the  Karabakh movement, which began 10 or 12 years earlier, was considered  a prerequisite for the fall of the Berlin Wall.  Because the Karabakh  movement began as an expression of the democratization of the Soviet  Union.  The Armenians of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, who,  as always, made up 80 percent of the region's population, decided to  try to defend their rights in the context of the democratization of  the Soviet Union when Mikhail Gorbachev was democratizing and  rebuilding the Soviet Union. And what right was violated? At the  beginning of the 20th century, when the Soviet Union was forming, the  South Caucasus was part of the Soviet Union, republics were formed.  And in 1988, the Supreme Council of the Nagorno- Karabakh Autonomous  Region decided to start an absolutely peaceful process in order to  correct the current situation when they were part of Azerbaijan. To  which the Soviet Union and Azerbaijan responded with force, in  particular, organizing the massacre of Armenians in the cities of  Sumgait, Baku, and then in the immediate vicinity of  Nagorno-Karabakh. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan  declared independence from the Soviet Union.

And according to the rules of the Soviet Union, if the republic  begins the process of independence from the Soviet Union, its  regions, including the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, can decide  on their status.  And the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region also  decided to become independent. And as Soviet Azerbaijan became  independent from the Soviet Union, so the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous  Region became independent from Soviet Azerbaijan.

And yes, they do say that the international community did not  recognize this independence. The struggle of the Armenians of  Nagorno-Karabakh is to recognize this right.

Nagorno-Karabakh has actually become the front line of the  anti-terrorist war. And we think that the formula "secession for the  sake of salvation" should be applied to Nagorno-Karabakh. Because  Nagorno- Karabakh within Azerbaijan means ethnic cleansing, genocide  of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. As far as I know, you were in  Karabakh, saw a rocket attack. Can anyone explain why Stepanakert is  being shelled? For one simple reason that people would refuse to live  there. This is a very important formula for ethnic cleansing and  genocide. And our main idea is that there should be a "separation for  the sake of salvation," Pashinyan concluded.