"[The West] with its weapons in Syria cannot talk about Turkish soldiers in the Caucasus" - Erdogan
On September 28, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the West harshly and demanded “to bring the occupier Armenia to justice”, commenting on the military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh, which began early in the morning of September 27, 2020.
A few key points from his 30-minute speech:
A few key points of his half-hour speech:
“The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – the United States, Russia and France – have not been able to resolve the conflict for almost 30 years. On the contrary, they are doing everything they can to prolong the problem.
And now these same countries are trying to teach the parties to the conflict, and from time to time they even threaten. Azerbaijan has already listened to you for 30 years, hoping for an early settlement. But whose lands are occupied? Lands of Azerbaijan! This fact is also recognized by the co-chair countries.
Is Turkey involved in the conflict? Are there Turkish soldiers in the conflict zone [in Karabakh]?
These questions are being asked by those who have delivered thousands of trucks of arms to northern Syria. They divided northern Syria into sectors, created military bases there […] And now these same people are asking questions about the presence of Turkish troops and the supply of Turkish weapons in the Caucasus. What is this distorted view? As if President Ilham Aliyev is obliged to give them a report.
More than a million refugees and internally displaced persons live in Azerbaijan far from their homes. At the same time, no one demands a demand from the occupier – in the person of Armenia.
Azerbaijan said “Enough! It’s time to call to account ”- and solves problems on his own.
The time has come to end the crisis in the region, which began with the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions of Azerbaijan.
The immediate release of the occupied lands of Azerbaijan will open the way for peace and stability in the region.
Any other initiatives and attempts to force the parties to a settlement are illegal and unjust, and correspond only to the interests of Armenia.”
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US State Department on the “uselessness of foreign interference in the solution of the conflict “
On September 27, the US State Department issued a statement urging both sides to cease hostilities immediately.
Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus, who signed the statement, said that in a telephone conversation with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, he urged them to “use the existing direct channels of communication between them to avoid further escalation and useless rhetoric and actions that further increase tensions on the ground.“
“Participation in the escalating violence by external parties would be deeply unhelpful and only exacerbate regional tensions,” the statement said.
The United States, as Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, stands ready to continue to help achieve sustainable peace.
The Prime Minister of Armenia asks the world to “keep Turkey from interfering”, but is ready to discuss the recognition of Karabakh
Also on September 27, the Prime Minister of Armenia called on international structures to keep Turkey from interfering in the Karabakh conflict, as this “will finally undermine the situation in the region.”
“A large-scale war in the South Caucasus, on the threshold of which we are now standing, can have the most unpredictable consequences. It can go beyond the region and […] endanger international security and stability,” the prime minister noted.
At the same time, Nikol Pashinyan stated that he was ready to discuss the recognition of the independence of Karabakh as a response to the aggression of Azerbaijan.
“It is important to take into account the public opinion and all the arguments for and against,” he said.
