The settlement of the Karabakh conflict is not what Turkey needs. It longs for war to the bitter end and at any cost.
Another round of tension in Nagorno-Karabakh occurred at the end of September. Then Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of violating the regime of silence and began to mobilize troops. Turkey played a special role in the conflict. Taking the side of Azerbaijan, it began to transfer loyal Syrian militants to the region. Ankara ignored the criticism of the international community.
The Karabakh conflict is far from the first on the list of Turkey’s foreign military adventures. It is trying to gain a foothold in neighboring Syria and even in distant Libya.
“This is no longer a struggle for influence on neighbors – this is a struggle for an empire”, – Dmitry Zhuravlev, Director General of the Institute of Regional Problems, comments on the situation.
According to him, Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the first leader of Turkey in the last century, who considers his country as the center of the entire Muslim world with the historical right to control any territory where Muslims live. However, in order to prove this right, Ankara needs to demonstrate the ability to protect the interests of Muslims anywhere in the world. This is what Erdogan is doing in Nagorno-Karabakh. The problem is, Zhuravlev believes, that Ankara needs an exclusively military victory. Only Azerbaijan will pay for it.
“This is the main difference between the positions of Azerbaijan and Turkey. Azerbaijan seeks to find a solution to the conflict, but not at the cost of devastation and mass death of citizens. Turkey wants to win at any cost”, – the expert stated.