Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sharply condemned Israel on Monday for aligning itself with "Turkey, terrorists and Syrian mercenaries" in support of Azerbaijan amid a territorial dispute that has killed more than 1,300 people so far.
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post published on Tuesday, the Armenian leader excoriated the Jewish state for arming its enemy, Azerbaijan, which he said intends "to commit genocide against the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh."
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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrives to visit a military hospital in Yerevan, Armenia
(Photo: AP)
Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed territory located in the South Caucasus and has served as a fraught point of contention between Yerevan and Baku since the break-up of the Soviet Union.
The ex-Soviet foes have been engaged in fierce fighting for more than a month over Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan controlled by Armenian separatists.
Pashinyan said that Israel's involvement in the dispute is clear since “Israeli UAVs are actively used in the war against Nagorno-Karabakh,” adding that Jerusalem should take a step back and question who its partners are in this conflict.
“I think that Israel should think about the following,” the prime minister said. “Mercenaries, Islamic terrorists and Israel are now on the same side basically. So Israel should think, is this really a convenient position for it to be [in]?”
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A view of an apartment building that was allegedly damaged by shelling during fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh
(Photo: AP)
Relations between the two long-time allies hit a low in October when Yerevan recalled its ambassador in protest of arms sales to Azerbaijan, one of the few Muslim-majority nations in which Israel enjoys amicable diplomatic ties.
Pashinyan concluded said that the involvement of Turkey and Syrian mercenaries in the conflict had seriously complicated the situation.
“Their presence in the region poses a threat not only to Nagorno-Karabakh, but also Iran has stated that it views it as a threat, and Russia has stated that it views it as a threat,” he noted.