Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has given an interview to The New York Times, in which he addressed the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Mountainous Karabakh. This was reported by the Prime Minister’s Office.
From the article about the interview, we read:
“During a phone call on Thursday with President Trump’s national security adviser, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan raised a delicate question: why is nothing being done to prevent Turkey, a longtime ally of the United States, from using American-made F-16 aircraft against Armenians? Mr. Pashinyan’s appeal was directed to National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien shortly after the outbreak of heavy fighting in Mountainous Karabakh.
Mr. Pashinyan said during our telephone interview that the conflict has moved to a much more dangerous level because of Turkey’s direct military intervention in favor of Azerbaijan.
The conflict is causing alarm over the risk of a wider war. The United States finds itself in an awkward position, as the politically influential Armenian diaspora watches NATO member Turkey use F-16 aircraft on behalf of Armenia’s enemies.
‘The United States,’ said Mr. Pashinyan, ‘must explain whether those F-16s were provided for bombing peaceful villages and the peaceful population.’ He noted that Mr. O’Brien ‘heard and accepted’ his concerns.
Mr. Pashinyan declined to say whether Armenia is prepared to cede any territory in the event of a possible peaceful settlement, insisting that the question should be answered not by him but by the leadership of Mountainous Karabakh.
According to Mr. Pashinyan, the current fighting for Armenia, which began on 27 September after months of tension, represents an ‘existential threat’ because of Turkey’s intervention. He recalled that Turkey’s predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, killed approximately 1.5 million Armenians at the end of the First World War. The U.S. Congress and many countries declared that slaughter to be ‘genocide,’ which Turkey, however, does not recognize.”
