Armenia: Int'l community should keep Turkey away from Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has urged the international community to keep Turkey away from any possible interference, amid the recent escalation along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact.

Pashinyan delivered remarks hours after Azerbaijan launched a large-scale offensive along the Karabakh contact line and has been shelling civilian settlements since early morning. At least two civilians – a woman and a child – have been killed, while two others have been injured.

"I'd like to draw the attention of the international community to the gravity of the situation. The eruption of a large-scale war in the South Caucasus could have the most unpredictable consequences and become a threat for the international security and stability," Pashinyan said in a live message on Sunday, September 27.

"I call on the international community to keep Turkey away from any possible interference – something that would destabilize the situation for good."

Pashinyan said Turkey's aggressive behaviour, which the world first saw during the escalation in July and which is continuing still, is truly worrying.

"Such a dangerous attitude is fraught with the most devastating consequences for the South Caucasus and the neighboring regions," the Armenian PM said.

"The International community should prevent a dangerous turn of events and keep the region safe from any attempt to destabilize the situation."

Both Armenia and Karabakh have introduced martial law and total mobilization of their male population.

The Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army said on Sunday that helicopters, drones, tanks and infantry armored vehicles belonging to the Azerbaijani military have been destroyed since morning.

Armenian Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan has already briefed Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office, on the situation along the Karabakh contact line.

The last major escalation on the contact line of Nagorno-Karabakh was in April 2016 when Azerbaijan resumed hostilities against Karabakh. Throughout the four-day military campaign, 64 soldiers, 13 volunteers and four civilians, including a child, were killed and more than 120 people were wounded on the Armenian side. According to information from the U.S. Department of State, Azerbaijan lost more than 270 people in total.