Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has responded to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments in July, in which Erdogan acknowledged the involvement of Turkish troops in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh battle.
When questioned about the statement during a press conference, Pashinyan said that the Armenian intelligence agencies were aware of Turkish involvement. “I prefer not to discuss the painful events of the past, but to address the question directly, I can only state what we have officially stated before. During the 44-day war, our military and intelligence observed Turkish flags, Turkish servicemen, Turkish commandos, and high-ranking officers in various locations. It is important to note that large-scale Azerbaijani-Turkish military exercises occurred prior to the war, and Turkish F-16s and pilots were present throughout the entire conflict, receiving support from Turkish personnel,” Pashinyan stated.
The Armenian Prime Minister expressed his reluctance to discuss the matter at present, citing the presence of gradual but good developments in the relations between Armenia and Turkey.
The Azerbaijani Defence Ministry categorically denied that Turkish troops were involved in the war. Azerbaijan responded by issuing the following statement: “The involvement of foreign servicemen in the defence of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is unfounded.”
Although Azerbaijan refrained from issuing an official response, it responded to the statement through an anonymous source within the Ministry of Defence.
Baku maintained that Turkey’s assistance was exclusively political. This announcement follows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent threats to take military action against Israel, akin to his previous involvements in Libya and Karabakh.
President Erdogan suggested that Turkey could intervene in Israel to provide assistance to Palestinians in Gaza during a contentious speech. Erdogan declared at a rally of his governing AK Party in Rize, his hometown, that “we might do similar to them” in the same way that we entered Karabakh and Libya.
