Pashinyan: Turkey must discontinue its engagement in Karabakh conflict
07.10.2020,
16:08
In an interview with TIME, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan doubled down on accusations that Turkey is already intervening militarily on behalf of Azerbaijan, saying Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to extend his influence in the region, the government press reported.
YEREVAN, October 7. /ARКА/.In an interview with TIME, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan doubled down on accusations that Turkey is already intervening militarily on behalf of Azerbaijan, saying Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to extend his influence in the region, the government press reported.
“Armenia and Karabakh have now become a civilizational front line,” Pashinyan told TIME by phone on Oct. 2, accusing Erdogan of sending between 1,500–2,000 Syrian “terrorists” to the region in support of Azerbaijan.
In concert with Turkey’s military incursions into Syria and Libya and its volatile maritime standoff in the East Mediterranean, Pashinyan said that Turkey’s action is nothing short of action aimed at reinstating the Ottoman empire.
Asked whether his actions in the run-up to the conflict were provocative, Pahsinyan told TIME that when he came to power he made a historic call for a solution that met the needs of Azerbaijanis as well as Armenians. His subsequent statements came only in response to Aliyev’s reiteration of Azerbaijan’s maximalist position, he said.
Pashinyan said Armenia’s conditions for a ceasefire are Turkey “discontinuing its engagement” and “the withdrawal of mercenaries and terrorists or their elimination.”
He said that mercenaries were harassing Azerbaijani villages, demanding the implementation of shariah law, and ransacking shops selling alcohol. Pashinyan estimated that some 1,500–2,000 “terrorists” were present in Azerbaijan.” -0-
“Armenia and Karabakh have now become a civilizational front line,” Pashinyan told TIME by phone on Oct. 2, accusing Erdogan of sending between 1,500–2,000 Syrian “terrorists” to the region in support of Azerbaijan.
In concert with Turkey’s military incursions into Syria and Libya and its volatile maritime standoff in the East Mediterranean, Pashinyan said that Turkey’s action is nothing short of action aimed at reinstating the Ottoman empire.
Asked whether his actions in the run-up to the conflict were provocative, Pahsinyan told TIME that when he came to power he made a historic call for a solution that met the needs of Azerbaijanis as well as Armenians. His subsequent statements came only in response to Aliyev’s reiteration of Azerbaijan’s maximalist position, he said.
Pashinyan said Armenia’s conditions for a ceasefire are Turkey “discontinuing its engagement” and “the withdrawal of mercenaries and terrorists or their elimination.”
He said that mercenaries were harassing Azerbaijani villages, demanding the implementation of shariah law, and ransacking shops selling alcohol. Pashinyan estimated that some 1,500–2,000 “terrorists” were present in Azerbaijan.” -0-
