Turkey – Turkey is also party to the conflict, assures Turkish Defense Minister
Monday 31 August 2020 – INTERNATIONAL POLITICS – Gypsy nomad innovator the Turks and the World:
Turkey’s strong support for Azerbaijan makes it part of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday.
“Turkey is also a party to the conflict, standing alongside a sister state and defending its rights,” Akar told Turkish news agency Anatolia.
Successive Turkish governments have unconditionally supported Azerbaijan in the conflict, reflecting the close cultural and ethnic ties between the two nations. They refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia and kept the Turkish-Armenian border closed. They also provided military assistance to Azerbaijan.
Ankara has expressed its support for Baku in unusually strong terms during and after last month’s deadly clashes on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The Armenian government denounced the Turkish reaction, accusing Ankara of attempting to destabilize the region, undermining international efforts to resolve the conflict and posing a serious security threat to Armenia.
Akar again blamed Yerevan for the surge in violence that left at least 17 soldiers from both armies dead. “Armenia is not acting reasonably by relying on forces that support it,” he said, apparently alluding to Russia, the main ally of the South Caucasus state.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged Ankara to exercise restraint in its response to the Armenian-Azerbaijani hostilities when they spoke by telephone with their Turkish counterparts in late July.
A few days later, the Turkish and Azerbaijani armies began joint military exercises in various regions of Azerbaijan which lasted for two weeks. Akar attended the closing session of these exercises.
“We will continue to support Azerbaijan in its just struggle,” the Turkish minister assured on 13 August.
The exercises and more aggressive statements by the Turkish leadership raised the possibility of Turkish military intervention in the Karabakh conflict. A senior official in Yerevan said on August 3 that Armenia was counting on Russian support in its efforts to counter the Turkish threat.
Armenia hosts around 5,000 Russian troops on its soil as part of close military ties between the two states.
by Claire on Monday August 31, 2020
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English translation – LOUSAVOR AVEDIS:
