Pashinyan says Turkey seeks to continue the Armenian Genocide

PanARMENIAN.Net - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that Turkey has returned to the South Caucasus to continue the Armenian Genocide.

Pashinyan's comments come amid mounting discontent over Turkey participation in recent hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and Ankara's overt support for Azerbaijan.

"Why has Turkey returned to the South Caucasus 100 years later? To continue the Armenian Genocide," Pashinyan wrote on Facebook.

"For Turkey, however, continuing a genocidal policy is not only a means of implementing Armenophobia, but also a pragmatic task. Armenia and the Armenians of the South Caucasus are the last remaining obstacle on the way of continued Turkish expansion towards the North, the North East, and the East, and the realization of its imperialistic dream.

"It is no longer merely the Karabakh issue, nor a security issue of the Armenian people. It is now an issue of international security, and today, the Armenian people are defending also international security, assuming what may be a new historic mission."

Azerbaijan launched a major offensive against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27, shelling Armenian positions and civilian settlements with large caliber weapons and rocket systems. Armenia and Karabakh have introduced martial law and total mobilization. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. On September 29, the Azerbaijani army began shelling positions and civilian settlements in Armenia, which resulted in civilian casualty. On October 1, a group of local and international journalists came under Azerbaijan's shelling of civilian settlements. Some of them have sustained injuries.