'Ethnic cleansing vs. a war': Russian MP blames Turkey for 1915-style aggression in Karabakh

A member of the Russian state Duma, who recently visited Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), has shared has his impressions of the war-stricken country, blaming Turkey for a repetition of the 1915 Ottoman-style aggression against ethnic Armenians.

In comments to EADaily News, Vitaly Milonov described the ongoing clashes as the first attack by a NATO member state against the post-Soviet territory.

Asked to elaborate on the developments on the ground, the Russian lawmaker said he eyewitnessed Turkish drones, ISIS mercenaries, Azerbaijani soldiers, bomb strikes in the center of Nagorno-Karabakh's capital, Stepanakert, ravaged homes and funerals.

Milonov added that he had no close encounter with Azerbaijani soldiers "for fear of being killed" or killing them himself.

"Stepanakert wasn't shelled the first night after the [humanitarian] ceasefire. As a matter of fact, the Azerbaijanis do not have any army. That's a myth for selfies on Instagram. What they have is Turkey's general headquarters on the one hand and intelligence and combat drones - used not only on the territory of Karabakh but also Armenia - on the other. I have seen those drones myself," the lawmaker said.

In his words, 99% of the local population counts on Russia's support as an empire expected to save them from genocide, a crime which he said the Azerbaijani army is now actually committing (as opposed to a war).

"When the army wages war with the local population, that amounts to the total extermination of an ethnic group. That, by and large, repeats the scenario of the 1915 Ottoman aggression," he added.

According to Milonov, Russia is doing its best to influence the complicated situation "which could be even far worse without its presence".

"But we must not undermine our positions. The problem is that Russia, as a member of the international community, pursues its own rules of game, while Turkey is playing without any rules at all. Turkey is violating all the rules that can be simply imagined. This is not a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan; this, undoubtedly, is a geopolitical expansion and the loss of Azerbaijan's sovereignty - given that Azerbaijan is now going to turn into a kind of protectorate. And [President] Ilham Aliyev, who is now at the helm of state, is at the moment solving personal problems - at the expense of his own population," the lawmaker explained.  

Milonov added that no meeting with ethinc Azerbaijanis had taken place.

Meantime he warned of a Turkish program to cut the ties between Armenia and Iran (including the trade relations) by making the major roadway connecting the two countries a corridor opening the path to Nakhichevan.

Noting that he conducted the trip absolutely at his own discretion, the lawmaker said that he is now planning to urgently propose colleagues in the State Duma to adopt a resolution appealing to the Azerbaijani and Armenian parliaments to assist in ending the bloodshed.