Macron slams Turkey's "warlike" rhetoric on KarabakhSeptember 30, 2020 - 13:06 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - French President Emmanuel Macron has said he will be discussing Turkey's involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Russian and American Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald trump on September 30 and October 1, respectively. Macron has slammed the Turkish statements on the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh as dangerous, "warlike" rhetoric, Sputnik reports. "I have noted Turkey's political declarations [in favour of Azerbaijan], which I think are inconsiderate and dangerous", he stressed. "I will talk with President Putin today, and, I believe, with President Trump tomorrow raising this issue to exchange opinions and suggest a way out of the crisis", the French president stated during a press conference in Riga. In the meantime, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has stated that Ankara will do "what is necessary" if Azerbaijan asks it for military support. The Turkish foreign minister reiterated his stance, as on Tuesday he also said that Ankara was ready to support Azerbaijan during the escalation. "We want the issue (of Nagorno-Karabakh - ed.) to be cardinally resolved. We have made a lot of efforts to do this, but everything was in vain. We have always been beside Azerbaijan - both on the battlefield and at the negotiating table. We will continue this solidarity", Cavusoglu said. Azerbaijan launched a major offensive against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27, shelling Armenian positions and civilian settlements with large caliber weapons and rocket systems. Armenia and Karabakh have introduced martial law and total mobilization. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. On September 29, the Azerbaijani army began shelling position and civilian settlements in Armenia, which resulted in civilian casualty. Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has launched a fundraising campaign to support Nagorno-Karabakh amid Azerbaijan's aggression. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |