Armenia braced for LONG WAR in Nagorno-Karabakh, PM Pashinyan's adviser warns saying Turkey behaves like ‘regional terminator’

The ongoing fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region is unlikely to end quickly, a top Armenian official has warned. He said Yerevan is preparing for a protracted conflict, not least because of Turkey’s role in events.

“We are preparing for a long-term war. Why? Because, I say it again, the main player here is not Azerbaijan but Turkey,” Vagarshak Harutyunyan, a senior adviser to Armenia’s Prime minister Nikol Pashinyan told a Latvian YouTube channel on Monday. 

Turkey, a close partner for Baku but a historical foe for Yerevan, is “directly involved” in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian-populated landlocked enclave within Azerbaijan. Fierce fighting erupted on the disputed region’s borders on Sunday, with both Armenian and Azeri troops using heavy weaponry, large-caliber artillery, and combat aircraft in the clashes.

Harutyunyan, formerly Armenia’s Defense Minister, spoke of the universal conscription call-up recently issued in his own country as well as Nagorno-Karabakh, indicating that he wasn’t convinced the conflict will end any time soon.

The duration of the war will depend on many factors: on how the hostilities will proceed, [and] on the reactions of the international community.

The PM’s aide has further criticized Turkey, suggesting it is using Azerbaijan and “push[ing] it towards war in order to achieve its geopolitical goals in this region.” Ankara “behaves like a regional terminator, and is practically at war with all of its neighbors,” Harutyunyan opined.

Earlier, Baku denounced allegations of Turkish involvement in the crisis. “There is no foreign interference,” Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency.

Turkey has vocally supported Baku since the border fighting started, with top officials pulling no punches when it came to blaming Armenia for escalating the conflict. Earlier on Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Armenian “occupation” of Nagorno-Karabakh – which he described as “Azerbaijani land” – must end to secure peace in the region.

So far, there has been no proof presented of any material support provided by Turkey. However, Yerevan claims Turkey had transported some 4,000 Syrian militants to Azerbaijan to help it gain the upper hand in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku brushed aside these allegations, accusing its arch-enemy of funneling Syria-based “ethnic Armenian militants” into the region.

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