Hear how the Turkish President speaks about the French President: Prime Minister's interview with multiple publications

British The Telegraph, Belgian European Post, American Foreign Policy, Austrian Tageblatt, and Italian Il Giornale correspondents presented questions to Armenia's Prime Minister regarding the deep-rooted causes of the ongoing war in Artsakh and the possible avenues for overcoming them. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that Turkey, in addition to its troops, has transported a large number of terrorists to Azerbaijan since the war began on September 27.

According to the Prime Minister, Azerbaijan and Turkey had aimed to capture Artsakh in a blitzkrieg within 7-10 days, which did not happen as Armenians are fighting for their rights. Nikol Pashinyan stated: “This is a dispute of rights because Armenians have lived in Nagorno-Karabakh for centuries and have been the majority throughout that time. There is a significant Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh, including churches from the 5th, 8th, 10th, and 13th centuries.”

Referring to Turkey's involvement in the war, Pashinyan noted that Turkey is not here so much to support Azerbaijan as to implement its imperial ambitions. Armenia is the last obstacle blocking Turkey's expansion. He warned that if Europe does not adequately assess Turkey's actions, it should expect Turkey to be near Vienna in the not-so-distant future.

Nikol Pashinyan said, “Look what happened in France. See how the Turkish President speaks about the French President. People’s heads are being cut off in the streets of Europe today, and everyone is happy that their heads are not being cut off. I call this the mechanism of genocide. Just because no one’s head was cut off this time does not mean the same will not happen next time. And there is a clear response to that; we can see where the energy center is that encourages all this. What I am saying is that the European Union should not do this for us; the EU should do this for itself. If it wants to do it, let it do it; if it doesn’t want to do it, let it not do it. I have to think about the security of Yerevan, Armenia, and the Armenian people; the security of Vienna is not in my working logic. Afterward, let them not say we did not warn them.”

When asked what the Armenian authorities could have done to prevent this war, Pashinyan said he could have made significant concessions, but that would not have prevented the war. “After every concession, Azerbaijan would have demanded more,” he said.

Nikol Pashinyan made a comparison between the Munich Agreement and the current situation: “Before the start of World War II, the powers of Europe thought that when Czechoslovakia conceded to Hitler, they would satisfy his appetite, and war would not happen. And what happened as a result? Hitler swallowed Czechoslovakia. The other saying also worked: ‘Appetite comes with eating.’ We do not plan to concede our ‘Czechoslovakia’ to anyone.”

Is Armenia planning to seek peacekeeping forces from Russia or another state, as well as military support? In response to the question, Nikol Pashinyan stated that Russia is Armenia's main ally, fulfilling its obligations both bilaterally and in a multilateral format. “Our Russian partners have said that in the event of a real threat to Armenia’s territorial integrity, they will fulfill their allied obligations, including military ones. We believe that the optimal solution is the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh.”

International media correspondents also addressed the rocket shelling of Azerbaijani cities, especially targeting Ganja by the Artsakh army. Pashinyan responded to this question with a question: “Why has Stepanakert been shelled for 10 days or more? Why have Martakert, Askeran, Martuni, and Shushi been shelled and bombed? Why was the St. Ghazanchetsots Church in Shushi shelled? If one shell had fallen, we could consider it an accident. But the Armenian church in Shushi has been bombed twice. For what reason has it been bombed? The Defense Army of Nagorno-Karabakh had military targets in Ganja and struck military targets.”

The Prime Minister emphasized that by shelling the capital of Artsakh and major settlements, Azerbaijan aims to depopulate them and subject the remaining Armenians to genocide. The Armenian army defends our vital territory, and to prevent the Azerbaijani-Turkish genocidal plan, the international community should respond positively to the Armenian initiative of “separation for the sake of salvation” for the independence of Artsakh.