“We need more effort to stop this,” Presdient Sarkissian said. “And the focus of the efforts should be Turkey. The moment Turkey is taken out of the equation, we will be closer to a ceasefire and returning to the negotiation table.”
“What is a Nato member state doing in Azerbaijan helping to fight Nagorno-Karabakh? Explain to me,” he questioned. “That completely redefines the role of Nato.”
Turkish President Erodgan has been vocal in supporting Azerbaijan as Turkey’s “brother country” since hostilities started late last month, and which has since taken hundreds of lives on both sides, military and civilian. But it’s also widely believed Turkey is sending limited airpower in the form of F-16 jets and drones, for use against the Armenian military.
There’s also the issue of Turkey transferring hundreds of Syrian militants from Islamist factions who had previously been warring against Assad, which has been covered widely in Western press, such as in The Guardian, since the start of the latest fighting.
Sarkissian addressed this hugely controversial issue in the interview with FT:
“When the fighting stops, will the [militants] stay,” asked Mr Sarkissian. “It is a threat not only to Armenia but the whole Caucasus, and it is a threat to Russia . . . they can have a dramatic impact on the countries of Central Asia and dramatic impact on the north of Iran.”
As for the still disputed Turkish F-16 question, Armenia last week accused Turkey of shooting down an Armenian jet over its airspace, something both Ankara and Azerbaijan vehemently denied.
However, satellite imagery showed a par of Turkish F-16 jets parked at an airbase in Baku, after which Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was forced to admit the presence. He merely claimed they were there for routine “training” exercises and not to engage in any hostilities.
Interestingly, Syria’s President Bashar Assad weighed in on the issue of Turkish intervention in Nagorno-Karabakh, saying Erdogan was supporting terrorists from Libya to Syria to the Caucuses.
Assad blamed Turkish intervention for heightening the conflict in a series of statements this week, some of which were featured in televised interviews:
Given that Russia and Turkey find themselves on opposite sides of the Caucuses conflict, paralleling the wars in Syria and Libya, the potential for this to explode into a broader regional war remains significant.
Only thing Armenia can do now is to talk. Trash talk….
Barking dogs
Erdogan is creating Syria everywhere. So it’s not the news.
Next : https://twitter.com/HAbdolhossein/status/1311967637707132928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1311967637707132928%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_2&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefaultf%3Dsouthfrontt_i%3D12616920https3A2F2Fsouthfront.org2F3Fp3D126169t_u%3Dhttps3A2F2Fsouthfront.org2Fturkey-gets-bogged-down-in-karabakh2Ft_e%3DTurkey20Gets20Bogged20Down20In20Karabakh20War20As20Armenian20Forces20Reclaim20Initiativet_d%3DTurkey20Gets20Bogged20Down20In20Karabakh20War20As20Armenian20Forces20Reclaim20Initiativet_t%3DTurkey20Gets20Bogged20Down20In20Karabakh20War20As20Armenian20Forces20Reclaim20Initiatives_o%3Ddefaultl%3Dversion%3D694cc3812647ab88a4a503ff3b9ae82d
Wasn’t there a huge number of conservative (orthodox?) Azeri Shia that left for Iran during Soviet times or just after? My limited understanding is that they opposed a secular Azerbaijan and have a strong affinity for their Turkic cultural roots (vs. Persian/Iranian Shia). I read that specifically as cultural roots, not necessarily ethnic roots. Their communities in Iran keep to themselves and identify as Azeri exiles. The animosity towards Iranian Shia seems to be that they wouldn’t help the orthodox Azeri Shia transform Azerbaijan into a Shia Islamic nation. These protesters seem like part of that group, thus the commenter’s lament. Someone correct me if I’m wrong. This was the reason I thought Azeri Shia (the ones who stayed in Azerbaijan, I guess) support Turkey over Iran today. This is also the reason for the odd Israeli and U.S. influence over Azeri Shia, despite the usual crying about Iranian and all other Shia are some kind of existential threat to mankind.
We need a bit of education on situations like this from people like Garga.
Family members of mine moved from the Azeri part of the Soviet Union to northern Iran because living conditions in Iran were better. This was true for both Azeris and other nationalities. The Azeris in northern Iran were considered moderate and hospitable. In the past, the Azeris were considered an aristocracy in Iran, today they are ruled by an extremist religious regime that imposes on them a way of life that most of them do not want. Many of them would like to live in their beautiful and rich country, but under secular rule.
Muslim scum anyway…the only good ones are shia Persians!
“Muslim scum anyway…” – Not really. The Azerbaijani regions in northern Iran welcomed members of all religions. I understand you think all Muslims are “Muslim scum” as you wrote. And Shia Persians are slightly less “Muslim scum”. Are there other peoples / religions you blindly hate?
Paedophiles!
“…today they are ruled by an extremist religious regime that imposes on them a way of life that most of them do not want.”
Are you speaking of Azerbaijan, here? This is the exact opposite of whatever I read about the region (keeping in mind I’m referring to western sources a year ago). That may have been propaganda to dismiss the unrest in parts of eastern Azerbaijan about breaking away. I don’t recall the names of the people/regions, but one was in the northeast and the other was in the southeast (including Baku). The message in whatever I saw seemed to be “Azeris are all one big happy family – everyone loves it here; oil money everywhere” and “Only the ‘bad’ Azeris deserted Azerbaijan for Iran”.
That narrative would make sense for Turkey/Israel/US to push. They would be eager to make Azeri unrest invisible to the world and not have it seem to interfere with the oil/gas pipeline profits. In fact, some Armenian leader (military?) said a few days ago that he was in solidarity with these two Azeri areas and would not fire on them. In general, it seems the Azeris are not supportive of the current conflict. As usual: a meat grinder for the little people and sacks of shekels for the ruling elite.
This is what you get when you invite different cultures, ethnic , religious, and racial groups into your country. Nothing good will ever come out of it.
I see some people here, specially some Armenians and Greeks tend to interpret this war as some sort of religious war between Muslims and Christians. It has nothing with religion as you see Turkey (with its Sunni MB leadership) moved hardcore Sunni/Wahhabi mercenaries to fight for a majority Shi’a Azerbaijan. Those Jihadis love nothing more than getting their hands on a Shi’a and torture them to death as times and again we saw in Syria.
I’m afraid what we see here is the beginning of a much larger scheme towards central Asia. Armenia is just the first step.
I believe what Turkey and Aliyev are looking for is a land bridge to directly connect Turkey to the Caspian sea and from there, to the central Asia. IMO what will happen is after they pound Qarabaq for sometime and pressure Armenians, they will call for negotiations and agree to a land swap, something they are after for a couple of decades and on paper sounds very reasonable. Armenia gets to keep Qarabaq, meaning all the land that always been inhabited by Armenians but has to evacuate some parts of surrounding lands and instead, give a 30-50km wide land corridor along Iranian border to connect Nakhjivan to the rest of the republic of Azerbaijan. Armenians would be foolish to accept it as it will be the end of them as they will be surrounded by hostile or not friendly countries on all sides but Pashinian might agree to that. He might came to power just to do that.
The grand plan is creating a union of Turkic nations and a “Turan” army, an extension of NATO to complete encirclement of Russia, Iran and China. If they succeed, there will be spill over of chaos into border regions of all 3 countries. Bye Bye OBOR, Good bye stability and growth.
Turkey is reaping in central Asia what Saudis sow for decades by building their network of Madrasas, Saudis just introduced the element of their own perverted version of Islam by spreading money, Turkey turns it into their own in addition to the ethnic element.
I cannot emphasis enough how dangerous it will be for all of us, from China’s Xianjiang to Greece. I just hope my country, Russia and China have counter plans for this as the collective west is fully onboard with this plan.The central Asia that we hoped to play a great role in connecting us together becomes a hot-bed of Jihadi/Turan headache that threaten Iran, China and Russia. It is 2000 years ago all over again.
Needless to say that I hope I’m wrong and thinking too much into it.
I think that your analysis is on point. Exactly my thoughts. Some of the Armenian soldiers on the frontlines cried that the land had been sold by the officials and so there is nothing to fight for because help is really not coming, it looks very clear the encirclement of Russia is in the pipeline. (Which automatically will encircle Iran as well) And it also seem inevitable for now… It is just a greenlight from Pashinya, he seems to be in bed with the West for now. This will also divide the Azeris of Iran and that is what I fear most… Unless they choose their culture and religion over their turkic roots.
Yeah, I hope you are wrong too :) Only stupid people can believe this is about religion.
I see people are finally catching on, What have I been saying to his whole time ? Smoke and mirrors and NATO on every border. Of course Putin is doing his ” aw shucks ” song and dance just like he was hired to do.
This is the result for Armenia for trusting anglo-saxons and jews….
What is a Nato member state doing in Azerbaijan helping to fight Nagorno-Karabakh? Explain to me Excuse me Mr.Sarkissian but what armenian mine-clearing experts,doctors,soldiers were doing at Syria?If god is all knowing, can he be all good?