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Armenia has announced that Turkey has shot down one of its military aircraft, but Ankara has denied it. Yerevan accuses Ankara of interfering in ongoing clashes between Azerbaijan and pro-Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh, reported AFP, Reuters and RIA Novosti, according to Agerpres.
The official Armenian news agency Armenpress, quoted by DPA, indicated that the incident took place in the airspace of Armenia.
“An Armenian Air Force Su-25 was shot down by a Turkish F-16 … coming from Azerbaijani territory,” Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanian said in a Facebook post. The plane’s pilot “died like a hero,” the spokesman also said. The Armenian plane was on a military mission when it was shot down, he said.
The Turkish plane “took off from an airport in the Azerbaijani city of Ganja and supported the Azerbaijani planes and drones that bombed the civilian villages of Vardenis, Mers Masrik and Sotk in Armenia,” the spokeswoman said. “The Armenian Defense Ministry previously accused Turkey of direct aggression” against Armenia, he added.
“The allegations that Turkey shot down an Armenian warplane are absolutely false,” Ankara denied in a statement to the communications director of the Turkish presidency, Fahrettin Altun. “Armenia should withdraw from the territories it occupies, instead of resorting to cheap propaganda,” he added.
“This information is another lie of Armenian propaganda,” said Azerbaijan Defense Ministry spokesman Vaghif Diargali.
Any such incident could lead to a possible major escalation of the conflict in the South Caucasus region, involving regional powers Turkey and Russia.
Armenia and Turkey, backed by Turkey, accused each other on Tuesday of opening fire on positions outside the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, where fighting continues for a third day in a row, causing increasing civilian casualties.
The Kremlin has previously announced that it is in constant contact with Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“All kinds of statements about support or some military activity just throw gas on the fire,” Peskov said. Russia, which has an alliance with Armenia, where it also has a military base in Gyumri, has asked the warring parties for a ceasefire.
