Author: Arsine Chaltikian

Large-scale war over Karabakh not in Turkey’s interests – ARF-D politician

Arsine Chaltikian
Tert, Armenia

13:22 • 13.06.17

A large-scale war over Nagorno-Karbakh would not be in Turkey’s interests at the moment as a confrontation with Azerbaijan (which may also involve Armenia) might require intervention also by other states, including Russia, according to Giro Manoyan, the political affairs director of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaksutyun (ARF-D).

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“Turkey may offer its assistance at certain points to keep the Azerbaijani leader in a good frame of mind so to speak, but I don’t think a large-scale war would be in Turkey’s interests,” he told a news conference on Tuesday.

The politician made the remark as he addressed the recent regional developments and several countries’ move to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar. Manoyan said he positively evaluates Armenia’s decision to meet the country half-way and deepen the relations. 

He also commented upon the situation in Syria. “The developments around Syria underlie the deepened tension among the Arab countries. The moment has arrived for the Arab states to eventually decide what they are going to do with respect to Syria,” he said, noting that superpowers’ involvement in the Syrian crisis signals the regional if not global (vs domestic) significance of the problems in the country.

“The end to the crisis in Syria is visible,” he said, ruling out the possibility of a higher tension over the country.

BAKU: Expert: Yerevan worries about joint action of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia

Arsine Chaltikian
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
June 5 2017
5 June 2017 12:10 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The recent meeting of the defense ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in Batumi marked the beginning of a promising military alliance in trilateral format.

The defense ministers of the three countries discussed issues of strengthening security of their countries and stability in the region as a whole. Following the meeting, the parties agreed on the creation of a new format of interaction between the General Staffs of the armed forces of the three countries in parallel with the existing format of trilateral cooperation at the level of heads of the defense ministries.

Obviously, this cooperation causes negative reaction in neighboring Armenia, which has started talking about the threat to its national security that allegedly comes from each of the three countries.

Azerbaijan’s political scientist Fikrat Sadikhov, commenting on the issue, noted that the new military alliance between Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia intend to act as the unifying union against separatism and international terrorism for the security of their borders and the region as a whole.

“I believe that for occupant Armenia this fact should be alarming and a real message from its neighbors, for territories of which Armenia groundlessly claims many years. Armenia pursues a policy of aggression and seizure to expand the geography of its living space,” Sadikhov noted.

On the other hand, the alliance does not aim to assign someone else’s territory and does not intend to threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia, notes the expert.

“The coalition is aimed at preserving and restoring the territorial integrity of these countries, particularly Azerbaijan, as well as at improving the military and defense potential of these countries to protect their national interests,” Sadikhov said.

 “Of course, appropriate plans for the prevention of various threats of terrorism, religious extremism will be outlined; therefore Armenia must draw conclusions from the current geopolitical situation, the new realities, and not irritate neighboring countries,” Sadikhov noted.

The political scientist added that Armenia’s leadership should weigh the pros and cons and realize that it is perceived in the region as an aggressor country and and the whole world community is aware of that.