US Secretary of State calls on “third parties” to stay away from dispute in Nagorno-Karabakh
ISTANBUL, Turkey (North Press) – United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, called on “third parties” to stay out of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on Friday.
Pompeo hoped that reports about “Syrian jihadists” in Azerbaijan would be unfounded.
“We called on everyone to stay away from this, and dialogue must represent the methodology for restoring order and peace,” Pompeo said.
“If the conflict were internationalized and third parties sent ammunition and weapons systems, this would increase the complexity of the situation and increase the risk of the loss of lives,” he added.
“We have definitely conveyed this message to the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders, as well as to the Turks,” he said.
On Friday, Armenia accused Azerbaijani forces of bombing the main city in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, while the battles continued for the 6th consecutive day.
Armenia said that it is ready to work with mediators to reach a ceasefire, but Azerbaijan responded that Armenia must first withdraw its soldiers.
Nagorno-Karabakh province announced on Saturday the killing of 51 of its soldiers in the fighting with Azerbaijan, in a sharp rise in the death toll within a week.
In this context, in an interview with North Press, the head of the International Center for Political Analysis and Prediction, Denis Korkodinov, said on Saturday that Turkey is keen not to anger Russia with regard to developments between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and that its intervention there is for the benefit of Azerbaijan.
The Turkish keenness comes from the fact that Turkey’s intervention in favor of Azerbaijan may push Russia to restructure its relations with Turkey.
“Ankara is still interested in maintaining an alliance with Russia in Syria,” Korkodinov said.
“The goal of the Azerbaijani army at this phase is to destroy the logistical and transport links between the Armenian capital and Nagorno-Karabakh province, as this will cut off the supply to the unrecognized republic and create obstacles to the transfer of the Armenian forces,” he added.
“To this end, the Azerbaijani armed forces are seeking to seize strategic heights to control the main roads leading to Nagorno-Karabakh,” he concluded.
On September 27, fierce battles broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia, at a time Turkey says that Armenia is “occupying” the Azerbaijani territories and must leave them. Turkey continues supporting Azerbaijan in its struggle, according to senior Turkish officials.
Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh, is a mountainous region officially recognized as part of Azerbaijan, though it has a predominately Armenian population and is a de facto independent country which calls itself the Republic of Artsakh. It has been claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan since the establishing days of both countries.