Turkey behind any plots to provoke new war in South Caucasus –
Artashes Geghamyan
12:49 * 16.11.14
In an interview with Tert.am, Head of the Armenian delegation to the
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Artashes Geghamyan commented on the
statements by Thomas de Waal, Senior Associate, Russia and Eurasia
Program, Carnegie Endowment, and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
According to Mr Thomas de Waal, the “incidents are an illustration of
the increased militarization of the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire line
over the last 20 years – the most militarized zone in Europe.”
On the other hand, Armenia’s president stated that no war was going to
break out.
Even if any plans to provoke war in the region are being devised, it
is certainly being done by Turkey because it is seeking to destabilize
the South Caucasus to divert the international community’s attention
from the activities of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant along
the border of Turkey, Syria and Iraq.
“Mr Thomas de Waal must have certain grounds for his conclusions. He
studied at Oxford and later wrote a most interesting paper, Black
Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War, which showed a
more or less impartial approach. He has more contacts with Western
experts and, as Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment, must have
arrived at this conclusion. It is suggested that such plans may be
devised, but President Serzh Sargsyan’s statement ruling our war in
the region is based on much more reliable data. We should not forget
the detailed talks over the problem between the Russian and
Azerbaijani Presidents, Vladimir Putin Ilham Aliyev, in Sochi, between
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Ilham Aliyev in Newport, Wales,
and between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Paris, mediated
by French President François Hollande. In other words, the last two
months and a half have seen talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijan
presidents and the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states.
Moreover, following the Paris meeting our FM Edward Nalbandian noted
positive aspects of the meetings. Therefore, the Armenian president
stated (doing so during large-scale military exercises in
Nagorno-Karabakh) there was no threat of war. I think that one of the
reasons for Serzh Sargsyan’s statement is the fact that by unleashing
war after the Minsk Group co-chairing states’ leaders reached certain
agreements Azerbaijan would show its disrespect for the Russian
president, the US Secretary of State and the French president. Another
question is that our supreme commander-in-chief’s statement foiled the
plots to destabilize the South Caucasus devised by Azerbaijani and
Turkish strategists. Azerbaijan wanted Armenia to retaliate in such a
way as to neutralize the extremely negative reaction to Azerbaijan’s
act – downing a Nagorno-Karabakh MI-24 helicopter, which had not
actually reached the Line of Contact. This is evidence that, even
after Azerbaijan resorted to such a provocation, that their plot was
foiled, and that country is in an unfavorable situation now. It is
clear that Azerbaijan is well aware it cannot any more avoid honoring
the agreements reached during the last two months and a half at the
meetings with the Minsk Group co-chairing states’ leaders.
As supreme commander-in-chief, President Serzh Sargsyan is well
informed of the military potential and morale in the armed forces of
Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. A man who saw war, a victorious
commander and hero of Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] will never say
anything absurd about such a serious matter. Moreover, by his
statement he re-affirmed Armenia’s commitment to the agreements
reached in Sochi, Newport and Paris.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/11/16/armenia-artashes-geghamyan/