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Armenia accused Turkey on Tuesday of shooting down one of its fighters in violent battles with Azerbaijan, resulting in the death of the pilot. This was denied by Ankara. Observers fear that Turkey will interfere in the conflict in favor of Azerbaijan, which may cause its expansion by virtue of the fact that Russia is itself an ally of Armenia in the framework of a military coalition with it.
Armenia announced on Tuesday that a Turkish fighter jet shot down one of its fighter jets during Fierce battles With Azerbaijan, which was vehemently denied by Baku’s ally Ankara.
Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said on Facebook that the Turkish fighter was conducting a sortie in support of the Azerbaijan Air Force to bomb civilian concentrations in Armenia when the Armenian fighter jet was shot down, killing the pilot.
“The allegations that Turkey shot down an Armenian fighter,” said Fakhruddin Alton, media director for the Turkish presidency.
“Armenia should withdraw from the lands it occupies instead of resorting to this ridiculous propaganda,” he added.
Furthermore, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry rejected Yerevan’s accusations and its spokesman told reporters: “This information is another lie of Armenian propaganda.”
Turkish intervention broadens the scope of the conflict
It is feared that if a direct war breaks out between Muslim Azerbaijan and predominantly Christian Armenia, two regional powers, Russia and Turkey, will be embroiled in the conflict, mutually supporting each other in the conflict.
Yerevan is part of a military alliance that includes former Soviet republics led by Moscow. On Tuesday, the Kremlin urged Turkey and the conflicting parties to work towards “a peaceful resolution of this conflict through political and diplomatic means.”
And Turkey’s direct intervention in the conflict could lead to a dangerous escalation after three days of violent clashes between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in the separatist Nagorno Karabakh region.
So far, the two parties to the conflict have not responded to calls for a ceasefire in the region, while each party has declared that the opposing party has suffered heavy losses.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a conflict over Karabakh for decades, with each side holding the opposite side responsible for fueling the violent clashes that erupted on Sunday, which have so far left a hundred people dead.
Foreign powers, including the United States and Russia, called for an immediate ceasefire and the resumption of negotiations, stalled for years, on the future of Karabakh.
The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency session on Tuesday to discuss the military escalation in the region, while neither side has expressed its intention to stop the hostilities.
France 24 / AFP
