Author: Nahapetian Zhanna

In full combat gear, President of Artsakh visits Shushi, vows “all possible efforts” to defend town

Nahapetian Zhanna

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 13:16, 5 November, 2020

SHUSHI, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan visited the troops in the town of Shushi on November 5, and discussed the strategy of fighting off the heavy attacks by Azerbaijani forces.

“The defensive fortifications created jointly by our professional soldiers and volunteer troops and the decisiveness of our men give us hope that all possible efforts are made for keeping [Shushi] invincible,” the Artsakh President said.

“With its spiritual and cultural values and traditions, Shushi is our greatest legacy which we inherited from our ancestors, and we must pass it on to our generations with the same Armenian spirit.”

President Harutyunyan expressed special gratitude to Colonel-General Seyran Ohanyan, whom he called “a devoted son of the Armenian nation”. In photos released by the presidency, Ohanyan is seen briefing the president on the defensive operations. The Armenian Deputy PM Tigran Avinyan is also with the Artsakh president.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Yerevan supports deployment of observers in Nagorno Karabakh – FM Mnatsakanyan

Nahapetian Zhanna

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 19:19,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan supports deployment of observers in Nagorno Karabakh, ARMENPRESS reports, citing Ria Novosti, Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said.

According to the Foreign Minister, Yerevan has always supported the idea of permanent monitoring of the ceasefire regime, suggested by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs following the April escalation of 2016. According to him, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to expand the monitoring group of the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and establish a mechanism for the monitoring of the ceasefire violation cases.

”But afterwards Azerbaijan refused to implement those agreements. This once again shows that neither yesterday nor today Azerbaijan is interested in a stable and verifiable ceasefire regime. But our position has not changed and we support the deployment of observers”, Mnatsakanyan said.

As refers to the deployment of peacekeepers, the Minister said that only those with neutral position can be involved in the peacekeeping mission in Nagorno Karabakah, emphasizing that those who act as a conflicting side cannot be involved in the peacekeeping mission.

CivilNet: Another Ceasefire Had Ceased

Nahapetian Zhanna
CIVILNET.AM

23:10

By Michael Krikorian

“What ‘cease’? says Gevorg Haroyan, a CIVILNET photojournalist, with a very rudimentary knowledge of English, allowed to go to one of the fronts of the war here. “Only fire.”

As he stood Monday afternoon on a ridge overlooking a valley a few kilometers from the embattled town of Martuni, Haroyan and a team of journalists from seven countries, accompanied by several soldiers, watched and sensed / experienced as explosions of varying significance detonated, some outgoing, some incoming.

Another ceasefire had ceased. 

At 8:00 am, local time, Monday, October 26, a ceasefire between Armenians and the attacking Azerbaijani forces was to go into effect throughout Karabakh, which has been a war zone for a month. The ceasefire had been announced the day before with much fanfare. Even the heretofore-silent American President Donald Trump publicly referred to it in a campaign rally.   

But, this ceasefire hadn’t even officially begun when, inexplicably, the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan accused the Armenian forces of “grossly” violating the agreement. How does one violate an agreement before it starts, social media asked. The Azeris quickly deleted this statement, but it did not help their credibility and supported skepticism about their commitment to a ceasefire.   

Shortly after the 8:00 am start time, the Ministry of Defense of Artsakh announced that the Army was strictly adhering to the agreement.

By early afternoon, this was all a moot point as the artillery shells were heard throughout the region.

The van carrying the journalists was forced to continue traveling by soldiers and came to a stop near an abandoned store. From near a 20-foot wide crater in the adjoining field. A single German shepherd appeared and curled up against a twisted metal fence. Whenever an explosion was heard, the solders went quiet, the journalists worried and the dog yelped loudly, then put his head back down.

A crusty, silver-haired man about 65 years old with a Kalashnikov slung across his back walked by the group. He smiled at one journalist and said something unrepeatable about the other side in this war, and walked down the road.

Another Kalashnikov carrying man, this one 34, overhears the older guy’s comments and laughs. He is a history teacher in peacetime, but since September 27, he has been in battle. He looks forward to the day he can return to the classroom and teach his students about this particular bit of history. He says he will teach this chapter “with a lot of pride.”

Michael Krikorian is a writer from Los Angeles. He was previously a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and for the Fresno Bee. He writes under the pseudonym “Jimmy Dolan” for the Mozza Tribune. His website is www.KrikorianWrites.com and his first novel is called “Southside”.

Azerbaijani armed forces target another international reporter in Artsakh

Nahapetian Zhanna

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 23:18,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 25, ARMENPRESS.  The Azerbaijani armed forces again targeted an international reporter working in Artsakh. ARMENPRESS reports Russian reporter Daria Aslamova released a footage in her Telegram Channel, showing a shell dropping 200 meters away from them when Aslamova was interviewing an Armenian serviceman.

”I am alive, this is another birthday for me. The shell exploded 200 meters away from us. The moment of the explosion can be seen in the footage. After driving away nearly 500 meters we understood that the explosion had damaged the oil container and the window”, she wrote.

Azerbaijani armed forces regularly target international reporters. The first incident took place in Martuni city of Artsakh on October 1, injuring two French reporters of Le-Monde. The second incident took place on October 8, when Azerbaijan bombed Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi town of Artsakh from a high precision weapon. Afterwards, when reporters arrived to cover the incident, they again targeted the church from high precision weapon, injuring 3 Russian reporters.




Sarkissian, Macron emphasize need to implement truce deals over Karabakh

Nahapetian Zhanna

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 12:02,

PARIS, OCTOBER 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris to discuss the situation in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone a day after he visited Brussels to meet with the NATO and EU chiefs.

[See video]
Sarkissian told Macron that Armenia highly appreciates the efforts and stance of France as an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair and personally Macron in the NK conflict resolution issue.

The Armenian President underscored that the Turkish-backed Azeri attacks on Artsakh, including on civilians and civilian infrastructure, continues and has led to many victims among the peaceful population.

“The President of Armenia expressed deep concern over Turkey’s military-political support to Azerbaijan, stressing that such volume of Turkey’s involvement as a third party is escalating the situation even more and is jeopardizing regional stability and security,” Sarkissian’s Office said in a readout. He said that the Islamist mercenaries from terrorist organizations whom Turkey deployed to fight from the Azeri side pose a special threat to the region and these fighters could potentially end up in some other countries, including in Europe later on.

Macron also expressed concern over the ongoing military actions and the situation.

Sarkissian and Macron concurred that there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of the NK conflict, and highlighted the need for implementing the agreements around the cessation of hostilities.

The presidents underscored the OSCE Minsk Group’s role in the resolution of the conflict and highlighted the need to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible under the Co-Chairmanship of the Minsk Group.

Sarkissian and Macron also praised the “unique Armenian-French relations that continue developing in the spirit of friendship and mutual understanding.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1032508.html?fbclid=IwAR2nbOg_O5wcbbfKkfJy0JWIawyBDFVnTNLAUQjV8BhMS7lf_HQaa21Dk1c

FM Mnatsakanyan’s visit to USA being prepared – The Hill

Nahapetian Zhanna

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 18:15,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Works for preparing the visit of Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan to the USA are underway, Ambassador of Armenia to the USA Varuzhan Nersesyan told The Hill.

‘’It’s expected that the visit and the meeting with Secretary of the U.S. Department of State Mike Pompeo will take place this month’’, ARMENPRESS reports the news website informs, noting that though the meeting is in the sidelines of annual Armenia-USA strategic dialogue, it has a new urgency under the light of the escalation of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, as a result of which dozens of civilians, hundreds have been injured and 10s of thousands have been displaced.

Ambassador Nersesyan noted that though works are carried out to organize the visit, the details of the visit will be announced by the Foreign Ministry of Armenia and the U.S. Department of State.

Geopolitics of Nagorno-Karabakh

Nahapetian Zhanna
The Tribune, Pakistan
Oct 15 2020

There are disputes that are brought to limelight only if the parties try and change regional and/or global status-quo

Inam Ul Haque

The writer is a retired major general and has an interest in International Relations and Political Sociology. He can be reached at [email protected] and tweets @20_Inam

The international system is reliant on national clout and effect. It will only gear up if a nation or a group of nations, through its actions, threatens the global status-quo. Traditionally, the dominant powers dislike threats to the established order as it may usher in uncertainty. There are crises and disputes among nations that are brought to the limelight only if parties to the dispute try and change the regional and/or global status-quo.

Nagorno-Karabakh or Artsakh — as the Armenians call it — in southwestern Azerbaijan, is one such legacy dispute. Some analysts see it as a conflict between Muslim Azerbaijan and Christian Armenia. That view is grounded in the conquests of Turko-Persian Seljuk Empire (1060-1307 AD), when Christian Armenia was firmly under Seljuk suzerainty.

The enclave is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but is populated by ethnic Armenians, therefore, supported by Armenia. In 1923, the Soviet Union established it as an Armenian-majority autonomous oblast (province) of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) having a high degree of self-rule. Now it is a self-declared independent country, not internationally recognised.

The Karabakh Range separates the enclave from Armenia, then the Armenian SSR. The enclave, under the USSR, spread over some 4,400 square kilometres, however, presently it occupies some 7,000 square km after capturing Azerbaijani territory. The region is generally mountainous, forested and rural with some light industry and food-processing plants. Xankändi (formerly Stepanakert) is its capital. It is surrounded on almost all sides by Azerbaijan except a thin strip of land in the southwest, connecting it to Armenia.

During 1988, Armenians of the enclave demanded transfer of their oblast to the Armenian jurisdiction against the wishes of both, the Soviet government and the Azerbaijan SSR. War ensued between the ethnic Armenians and Azeris in the enclave in 1991, after the USSR’s collapse. Karabakh’s Armenian forces, with full support of Armenia, occupied much of southwestern Azerbaijan, including the territory connecting the enclave to Armenia. A ceasefire agreement in 1994 was negotiated by Russia and a committee called the “Minsk Group”, created by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). However, there has been no lasting resolution to the conflict.

The self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh declared its independence in early 1992, held elections thereafter and approved a new constitution in a 2006 referendum. Azerbaijan considers all these actions illegal under international law. A 2008 landmark agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan pledged movement towards a resolution; however, episodic clashes have occurred throughout the 2010s. A breakdown in diplomacy led to clashes in July and late September this year, hence the recent escalation.

On October 10, both Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a limited ceasefire brokered by Russia, including prisoners exchange and removal of dead from the battlefield.

During the earlier war in the 1990s, Azerbaijan had put an economic blockade of land-locked Armenia as the war spread beyond Nagorno-Karabakh to the southern part of Armenia-Azerbaijan border. That may happen again if the situation escalates. Then, most of Armenia’s logistics were brought through traditional rail and road network from the Caspian Sea port of Baku, capital of Azerbaijan. Georgia was of limited help, Armenia had no relations with Turkey and roads across Armenia’s short frontier with Iran, to the south, were inadequate for heavy truck traffic. The United States provided 33,000 tons of American grain to Nagorno-Karabakh through Armenia after bread shortages. It airlifted critical items like baby food and medical supplies. That situation has marginally changed.

In the 1990s, 75% of the enclave’s population of 162,000 constituted ethnic Armenians after more than 600,000 Azeris and 200,000 Armenians were displaced. Armenians were outnumbered two to one by Azeris, prompting the US State Department to warn the largely isolated Armenia of a “national catastrophe” in December 1992. Today some 9.9 million Azeris face up to 2.9 million Armenians.

During recent build-up, Armenia killed an Azeri general and other officers in a missile strike on an Azerbaijan Army base in July this year. In the ensuing clashes, the enclave’s capital city, Xankändi, has been hit with missiles and suicide drones. Azerbaijan’s second largest city Ganja, and a hydroelectric station were struck in powerful rocket attacks causing losses. And Azerbaijani drones flew within 20 miles of Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. Ground operations have caused territorial losses to the Armenians.

The next targets could be oil and gas facilities on either side, affecting oil and gas supply to Europe. Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of firing rockets using its territory; ostensibly to invite Azeri retaliation, triggering Armenia’s defense pact with Russia. Turkey is solidly behind Azerbaijan. Any escalation beyond the enclave would draw in Turkey and Russia as Russia has a military base in Armenia and is treaty-bound to protect Armenia.

Russia and France support Armenia’s claim that Turkey deployed Syrian militants to Nagorno-Karabakh, besides using F-16s, thanks to the Armenian diaspora in the US, France and Russia.

Azerbaijan, frustrated by international inaction, seems resolved to fight until it has full control of Nagorno-Karabakh as the Minsk Group has not made any material advancement towards a lasting peace settlement. Its meeting in Geneva on October 8, 2020, with France and Russia — the other co-chairs — was convened nearly two weeks after the conflict. The US seems preoccupied with the pandemic, a popular uprising in Belarus and Trump catching corona.

Russia has been able to at least negotiate a tenuous ceasefire on October 10, as both countries were erstwhile socialist republics. Both use large-calibre, Russian-made Smerch (tornado) rockets and Russia has been supplying the same weapons to both sides for decades.

Azerbaijan rightfully seeks to control all the territory within its UN-recognised borders besides restitution for some 600,000 people displaced by the war in the 1990s. Armenians in the enclave fear Azerbaijani rule. While the Azerbaijan government suspects that the enclave’s Armenians will ultimately opt to join Armenia, it is prepared to allow them “cultural autonomy.”

This festering conflict is far from being settled and would most likely continue till the time the enclave is fully absorbed by Azerbaijan that enjoys all the legal, moral and administrative authority to do so. Azerbaijan has been boldly supporting our Kashmir cause and there are reasons to believe they have Pakistan’s moral and material support in their hour of need, in a just war.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2020.






A tour of Transcaucasia’s troubles

Nahapetian Zhanna 
Asia Times
By MK Bhadrakumar
October 7, 2020
Nagorno-Karabakh's explosion of hostilities is much more than a
Turkish-Russian clash of wills
[The following is the first installment in a three-part series on the
regional power dynamics that produced the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh
and the diplomatic efforts to contain it.]
Early into the renewed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh in the
Transcaucasian region – also known as South Caucasus – it is becoming
clear that the binary narrative dished out by Western commentators of
this being a Turkish-Russian clash of wills and strategies is either
simply naive or purposively deceptive.
The point is, Russia and Turkey – and Iran in a somewhat supportive
role – are already proactively talking of negotiations involving the
warring sides.
September 30 was a turning point of sorts. Tehran had on the previous
day called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to settle their differences
peacefully and offered that along with Turkey and Russia, it could
help the two countries to resolve their dispute.
President Hassan Rouhani repeated this offer in a phone conversation
with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. According to the Iranian
account, Pashinyan responded positively that “any tension and conflict
would be to the detriment of all countries in the region and welcomed
any practical initiative to stop the violence.”
Armenia is a landlocked country and it depends on Iran to provide a
vital transportation route to the outside world. On its part, Tehran
kept up a warm relationship with Armenia – although its rival
Azerbaijan is a Muslim country – even supplying it with natural gas.
Tehran stuck to the friendly track even after the “color revolution”
in Armenia in 2018 and Pashinyan’s steady gravitation to the American
camp in the subsequent period, while also remaining a member of the
Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Iran has profound security concerns over Pashinyan’s recent diplomatic
exchanges with Israel – at the initiative of the White House – which
of course has brought the famed Israeli intelligence apparatus Mossad
right on to Iran’s northern borders, in addition to the potential
Mossad presence in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman on
Iran’s southern flank.
Turkey too has reason to be concerned over Israel’s activities in
Transcaucasia. Israel is virtually piggy-backing on the US-sponsored
color revolutions in Transcaucasia. After the US-sponsored color
revolution in Georgia in 2003, Israel overnight made its appearance in
Tbilisi. And the Israel-Georgia ties have since become very close.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (R) is being welcomed by
officials upon his arrival at an airport in Baku, Azerbaijan, on
October 06, 2020. Photo: AFP/Resul Rehimov/Anadolu Agency
Despite the failure of the color revolution in Azerbaijan in mid-2005
and the sporadic attempts since then, Israel has developed close
“security cooperation” with that country.
Further north, Israel has developed special relations with Ukraine,
another progeny of the color revolution, which also has a president
who is an ethnic Jew who is actively involved also in the ongoing
color revolution in Belarus.
(The strange part is that notwithstanding the company that Israel
keeps in the Black Sea region, which is virulently anti-Russian, it
still enjoys exceptionally close ties with Russia.)
Both Turkey and Iran understand perfectly well why Israel attributes
such excessive importance to the three small countries of
Transcaucasia – total population 11 million – to establish a security
presence in that region with a view to create a “second front” against
its regional enemies – Ankara and Tehran.
(Israel has a record of links with Kurdish separatist groups too who
have ethnic links with Transcaucasia.)
Iran openly voiced its disquiet over Pashinyan’s decision to open
Armenia’s embassy in Israel, which in turn inspired then-US national
security adviser John Bolton to travel all the way to Yerevan, where
he openly took aim at Iran – and Russia. By the way, the Armenian
diaspora in the US is an influential constituency that Pashinyan
cannot ignore, either.
At any rate, demonstrations broke out in front of the Armenian Embassy
in Tehran soon after and senior Iranian officials cautioned Pashinyan.
An Iranian commentary remarked: “Tehran’s considerations … must be
taken into account.… On the other hand, Russia will undoubtedly oppose
the idea of using Armenia to promote security and economic influence.
It had already severely criticized Israel’s arms deal with Georgia and
the Republic of Azerbaijan.”
Clearly, Western analysts are obfuscating the US-Israeli nexus at work
in Transcaucasia. Both Ankara and Tehran have cause to worry that the
US might be the Israeli proxy in the Transcaucasia region – as has
been the case in the Middle East for decades – to weaken and roll back
the rising aspirations of the two regional powers.
Turkey-Iran axis in the making
With the destruction of Iraq and Syria and the weakening of Egypt,
Turkey (under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan) and Iran are the only
two authentic regional powers left standing in the Muslim Middle East
to defy the US regional strategies and to challenge Israel’s military
pre-eminence.
Significantly, the surge of the US-Israeli nexus in Transcaucasia
comes in the wake of the recent US-sponsored “peace agreements”
between Israel and three Gulf Arab states (the United Arab Emirates,
Bahrain and Oman). Indeed, both Turkey and Iran have reacted strongly
to the development in the Persian Gulf region.
Just this week, the chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces,
Major-General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, explicitly warned the UAE that
Tehran would view that country as an “enemy” and act accordingly if
Abu Dhabi allowed any Israeli security presence on its soil.
Within a month of the Israel-UAE agreement, Erdogan held a
videoconference with Rouhani where he made a big opening statement
that “Turkey and Iran dialogue has a decisive role in the solution of
many regional problems. I believe that our cooperation will return to
its previous levels as the pandemic conditions alleviate.”
Rouhani responded that Turkish-Iranian relations are built on solid
foundations throughout history and the border between the two
“friendly and brotherly countries” has always been “the borders of
peace and friendship.” He stated that especially in the past seven
years, both governments had made great efforts based on bilateral,
regional and international cooperation.
Significantly, Rouhani added that the two countries are located in a
“sensitive region” of the Middle East and they are “the two great
powers of the region. There was hostility and vindictiveness towards
both countries. It also exists today. There is no way to be successful
against such conspiracies other than by reinforcing friendly relations
between the two countries.”
Sure enough, Israel has taken note of the nascent Turkey-Iran axis,
which also includes Qatar. A commentary in The Jerusalem Post noted
that in recent years Turkish-Iranian ties have “grown closer due to
joint opposition to the US and also Israel. Iran and Turkey both back
Hamas, for instance.” It wryly observed that the Middle Eastern
geopolitics built around the Shia-Sunni sectarian strife may have
outlived its utility.
Again, the Turkish state news agency Anadolu featured a commentary
last week titled New strategic design of Middle East, which pointed
out that the peace agreements in the Gulf bring out the schism between
the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on one side and Qatar and Kuwait on
the other side. (Qatar is an ally of Turkey while Kuwait has friendly
ties with Iran.)
The commentary noted: “Arab countries seem to have lost both
confidence and a sense of unity; when the sense of confidence is
seriously damaged, it will be easier to put them at odds, and this
regional division, as everywhere, makes Arab countries and their
leaders dependent on external forces for their security and
existence.”
The Anadolu commentary then warmed up to its main theme, that the
so-called “normalization” agreement between the UAE and Israel “may be
a veiled effort not only to expand the imperial space but also to form
a bloc against Iran and Turkey in the Middle East.”
“Iran is a non-Arab country and seems an arch-enemy of the US and
Israel; Iran collaborates with Russia and China, the US’s arch-rivals,
and sometimes with Turkey, which may threaten both the US imperial
interest and Israeli security in the region. Hence Iran’s regional
power and influence should be jettisoned and driven into a corner.
“Turkey is a NATO country and seems a close US ally, [but] US policy
towards Turkey in the region is ambivalent, unclear, and elusive in
the sense that the US still continues to support the [Kurdish] YPG/PKK
terrorist group in Syria that has been carrying out terrorist acts
against Turkey and killing civilians for decades.
“Moreover, the US and Israel, though they seem friendly, do not want a
strong Turkey because a strong Turkey may influence Arab countries
particularly using Islam and then turn them against the exploitation
of the Middle East and its oil and resources by neo-imperial powers,
yet the US and other imperial power will never allow Turkey to easily
stand on its feet in the region.
“What they may prefer is that a weak and fragile Turkey, grappling
with its internal conflicts, will always serve their purpose.”
In the chronicles of the great game, seldom it is that the
protagonists speak up and opt for public diplomacy. The game,
historically, is played out quietly in the shade outside the pale of
public view. Turkey and Iran have decided otherwise.
Can it be a mere coincidence that the conflict in Transcaucasia, a
faraway region that borders both Turkey and Iran where Israel is
consolidating a security presence against them, erupted in such a
backdrop of new alignment that promises to redraw the geopolitics of
the Middle East?
M K Bhadrakumar is a former Indian diplomat.

Azerbaijani forces again open fire at Artsakh civilian settlements

Nahapetian Zhanna

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 08:57, 7 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS.  The Azerbaijani military is again firing at Stepanakert City and other civilian settlements of Artsakh, the Armenian Defense Ministry spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan said.

In turn, Artsakh’s presidential spokesperson Vahram Poghosyan said that “the terrorist army of the enemy” is being “mercilessly” neutralized by the Artsakh Defense Army.

The information on Azeri forces hiring mercenaries from Syrian jihadist terror organizations through Turkey has already been confirmed by intelligence agencies from France, Russia, the US and others.

One of these mercenaries had personally spoken about it to the BBC earlier.

Artsakh’s capital city Stepanakert and other towns have come under intense bombardment from Azerbaijan. 

The Azeri forces have used cluster munitions, which resulted in over 20 civilian casualties and heavy damages. 

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

‘Turkey wants to carry out another genocide’ – Armenian President tells CNN

Nahapetian Zhanna

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 12:25, 7 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan is constantly shelling Artsakh’s civilian population and the city of Stepanakert, villages and so on, and, in fact, what we have also recorded it is the activity of thousands of mujahideen terrorists, and we have also recorded basically Turkish F-16 being involved and their drones being massively involved, President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian said in an interview to CNN.

Armenpress presents the President’s full interview:

Becky Anderson: So, to know about the conflict we now joined the Armenian president Armen Sarkissian, he is speaking from Armenia’s capital Yerevan. He is talking about the attacks against its cities regionating from Armenia itself to Nagorno-Karabakh.

President Sarkissian: Well, unfortunately, this is a war started by Azerbaijan against the people of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh [Artsakh] and this is not a usual war we are seeing. I mean, these are not short conflicts for a day or two or three or four that have been happening during 26 years after the first war on Nagorno-Karabakh, which ended with a ceasefire in 1994. What is different here is the scale and it is already on the seventh day (it is coming the eight day) of the conflict because a week ago Azerbaijan started a war on Sunday, and there are already some clear results of that. First of all, this conflict of seventh days has shown that Azerbaijan is not gaining anything strategically, except creating a big mess and thousands of people that are killed on both sides. Secondly, this conflict is dramatically different from the previous clashes, which were happening between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, supported by Armenia. It is now happening with the open support by Turkey with its military officers, generals, mercenaries, and terroristic Jihadists who are brought in thousands to Azerbaijan to fight against Nagorno-Karabakh, and Turkey with its military might is pretending that they are there just to protect some international, logistic structures.

Becky Anderson: We will get to Turkey and I just wanted to establish what is going on, even if the entire responsibilities falls on Azerbaijan, many people disagree and say that Armenia provoked them.

President Sarkissian: I think there is no logic in saying that Armenia has provoked it because in 1994 the people of Nagorno-Karabakh basically won the war and claimed again for our independence that was taken from us for 70 years of the Soviet rule by forcefully connecting us to Azerbaijan by Josef Stalin. And then, with the breakdown of the Soviet Union we started to claim, similar to many other nations, our self-determination to rule our own life. Since then, there were negotiations for 26 years after the ceasefire and the platform of that negotiations was one of the best or the highest in the world; this is the OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France. These peaceful negotiations were basically creating some trust between the sides and eventually talking about the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, a week ago for this or that reason, the Azerbaijani side is claiming that they see no progress in negotiations and claim that this is about the territorial integrity. What is a territorial integrity for a piece of land that was given to them by the Soviet Union to keep it for 70 years, while Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh lived there for thousands of years? For people of Nagorno-Karabakh this is a fight for life because they have been fighting against Genghis Khan, Lenk Timur and the others for thousands of years, now it is about having a peaceful life on their own land.

Becky Anderson: How about that the Azerbaijani president said just yesterday “Azerbaijan will not let anyone to conquer Nagorno Karabakh, which is an Azeri territory, we must return, we will return it from Armenian occupation. He says “Azerbaijan will not cease military actions until you don’t set a timetable for withdrawing frits”. Are you willing to do that?

President Sarkissian: Well, I think, first of all, addressing it to the Republic of Armenia is a wrong appeal as they have to appeal to Nagorno-Karabakh or Artsakh as we call it, because their dispute is with this people. Now, this is not about Armenia occupying a territory. This is a territory that even under the Soviet rule, when it was part of Soviet Azerbaijan for 70 years, the absolute majority, I mean 95% of the population, were Armenians because they have been living there for thousands of years. How can anybody occupy a territory that you are living for thousands of years? So, this is not the right appeal…

Becky Anderson: Azerbaijan’s Military Defense said today that they have recorded rockets at Azerbaijan from starting positions of Armenia. How would you explain this, sir?

President Sarkissian: I don’t have to explain because that is not true, and in reality, the radar systems, computers and everything have been recording all the time how they were shelling the civilian population and the city of Stepanakert, villages and so on, from the Azerbaijani territory, and, in fact, what we have also recorded it is the activity of thousands of mujahideen terrorists, and we have also recorded basically Turkish F-16 being involved and their drones being massively involved. So, the short answer is that this is fake news.

Becky Anderson: Your Prime Minister spoke with the US national security advisor Robert O’Brien on Thursday about Turkey’s role in the intensifying conflict. What was the outcome of that talk and is the US offering any support?

President Sarkissian: Well, there was a call, as you know, by the three Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group on the presidential level of relevant countries: the President of the United States, the President of France and the President of the Russian Federation who called upon the sides for a ceasefire. I fully support this call of the three Presidents but the key issue here is that if there were only these two sides-the Azeri side and the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh with its population plus Armenia that is supporting Nagorno-Karabakh-then there would be a chance for future ceasefire and coming to the negotiating table. But as we have the Turkish component, it destroys everything.

Becky Anderson: The New York Times is reporting that the Prime Minister of the US says that nothing is being done to stop Turkey from American-made F-16 against ethnic Armenians. So, what is the response from Washington?

President Sarkissian: You are asking me something that is probably up to the US President’s National Security Advisor to answer this question. I openly spoke about this to the big multinational community, to many Presidents, Prime Ministers of different countries, asking them to interfere and put pressure on Turkey to stop it to interfere in the region because their interference is leveling the conflict up in magnitude, in complexity, and also creating something that eventually will become another Syria of Caucasus. If it becomes a place like Syria, then God help everybody. God help Europe, God help Central Asia. It will affect everybody including Turkey, Iran and Russia. So, my plea is if Turkey is restrained with the help of Russia, US and France, then we have a chance of a ceasefire and further negotiations, maybe peacekeepers, and a chance to going back to the negotiation table. Because there is no military solution to this conflict, there can only be peaceful, and diplomatic solution. To be honest, the Turkish involvement in this gives feeling to everyone not only in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia but everywhere where are Armenians, and those people who are close to the Armenians, that Turkey wants to repeat something that happened 105 years ago-ethnic cleansings of Armenians from their homeland-and creating another genocide.

Becky Anderson: Turkey is denying the genocide. I wonder you asked US for help on Thursday just before Trump was tested positive for COVID-19, do you think he wants his eyes off of this conflict? Does that worry you?

President Sarkissian: I don’t believe that Washington has its eye off of what is happening in the Caucasus because this is a crucial area. It is not only an important crossroad for many things but also in terms of a supply of hydrocarbons and the humanitarian side, and contains vital interests of many states. You spoke about the COVID-19 in the context of the President of the United States. So, let me take this opportunity to wish the President and the first lady good health and quick recovery because that is very is important not only for the Armenians but also for the elections in the US. By whishing health, we are hoping the US pays very serious attention to what is happening in the region. When you say Turkey is denying the genocide you can just look what the US Senate has decided, and countries like France, Russia and many other countries who have acknowledged what historically has happened. But also look at what is happening in the region; Turkey is involved in Libya, it was involved in Egypt, it has crossed the border and invaded Iraq and Syria, it is bullying people and countries in the Mediterranean, it has now tensions with Greece and Cyprus and now it is Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The presence of Turkey in Azerbaijan and its involvement make a big change.

Becky Anderson: Turkey’s foreign minister said that Armenia should immediately withdraw from this region. Will NATO be on the side of the Armenian forces? You have accused Turkey in bringing Syrian fighters to fight on Azerbaijani side, what evidence do you have about that, sir?

President Sarkissian: I am asking my colleagues both in NATO and also NATO member Turkey, when they were signing an agreement to join NATO, did that agreement allow Turkey to interfere in third party conflict regardless the reason they claim: ethnicity, [alleged] PKK fighters or protection of international energy pipelines? This is a nonsense, because Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh never have hit it. If they wanted to do so, they could have done this 20 years ago by stopping Azerbaijan to make billions of dollars, which were then used to buy armaments with which they now kill Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. That is one point. Secondly, I think we have to appeal, first of all, to bring this conflict back to the table of negotiations and to have a peaceful resolution. And the table of negotiations should not have Turkey around it. Turkey should withdraw from Azerbaijan and stop supporting them, because it becomes just another side of the conflict. Is NATO ready to accept that a NATO member is in war against Armenia? Neither Armenia, nor Azerbaijan are NATO members. We have a sort of partnership with NATO. And a NATO member is interfering.

Becky Anderson: What about evidence regarding sending Syrian fighters?

President Sarkissian: The evidence about Syrian fighters is open, it is on the internet, and the Government has provided all the necessary information. If you want, I can ask the Government to physically send it to you or your representative, if you have not seen them. It is obvious, there are video and audio recordings, captured people, and many other things. What else one needs to consider it as a clear evidence? And also, they did not come on their own.

Becky Anderson: What about Russia? What can Russia do?

President Sarkissian: Russia has allied relations both with Armenia and Azerbaijan. And again, we hope that Russia as a key member of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs will exercise a pressure first of all on Turkey. My formula is pretty simple: we need to exclude Turkey from this conflict militarily and politically. I do not know how on earth, there is shelling, there is fighting and Turkey is giving a sort of responses, organizing press-conferences, as if they are a side of the conflict. If Russia can put pressure, and then after that, the three Co-Chairs advising Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia to stop hostilities, I think it will work, and I hope it will work, and we will go back to the negotiations.

Becky Anderson: Thank you so much, sir. This was a very important speech.