Turkey behind any plots to provoke new war in South Caucasus – Artashes Geghamyan

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.