Ankara’s active support for Azerbaijan, which provoked an escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, is an extremely irresponsible step and “political suicide” of President Tayyip Erdogan, who quarreled with all the leading geopolitical players, Doctor of Military Sciences Konstantin Sivkov told RIA Novosti.
Earlier, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with RIA Novosti that Turkey uses terrorists from Syria and other countries in Nagorno-Karabakh, and Erdogan was the main initiator of a new round of this conflict.
“Indeed, it was Erdogan who initiated the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. For too long it was calm in this region, nothing has changed there for the last few years, and here, out of the blue, military actions begin. For the first time in the history of the conflict, Turkey is simultaneously opposing the United States. France and Russia, while participating in several conflicts in different parts of the world at once, is pure madness and political suicide”, – Sivkov said.
The interlocutor of the agency noted that Turkey, as a regional power, should not forget that it can conduct an active foreign policy only by enlisting the support of one of the large “centers of power”, but provoking aggression in Karabakh, Ankara risks losing Moscow’s support.
“Whatever the problems of today’s France, it is one of the main NATO countries and a nuclear power – relations with it deteriorated due to disputes with Greece. The conflict with the United States today is so acute that, apparently, it was Washington that was behind the attempt coup d’etat in Turkey in 2016. The only one who could support Ankara is Moscow, but Turkey’s actions in Karabakh are, in fact, a war against us”, – the expert emphasized.
The military situation in Nagorno-Karabakh
The fighting on the line of contact in Karabakh began on 27 September. Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of unleashing hostilities, in Karabakh they report shelling of peaceful settlements of the unrecognized republic, including its capital, Stepanakert. Armenia has declared martial law and – for the first time – general mobilization, claiming that Ankara is actively supporting Baku. Partial mobilization was introduced in Azerbaijan and martial law in some places. The leaders of Russia, the United States and France called on the opposing sides to stop clashes and to undertake to start negotiations without preconditions. Turkey has stated that it will provide Azerbaijan with any support it requests against the background of another aggravation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.