In recent years, the ongoing instability and crisis situations in the region pose threats and risks both to the security of Armenia and to Armenian communities in the Middle East, Adviser to the Foreign Minister Ruben Karapetyan said in an interview with Russian Riafan.ru.
Therefore, he said, we cannot but worry about Turkey’s aggressive expansionist policy, which is aimed at open confrontation in different parts of the region and thereby exacerbates the already extremely aggravated situation in the region, further destabilizing it.
“Information on the training of Syrian militants on the territory of Azerbaijan to participate in hostilities against Armenia and Artsakh is a vivid example of this. Taking into account the precedents of Azerbaijan’s use of extremists and Turkey’s export of terrorists to various regions, we take such a threat very seriously,” Karapetyan said.
“For many years, Armenia has been raising this issue both on international platforms and in the format of bilateral discussions with our partners. We have repeatedly warned about the catastrophic consequences of this policy, especially after the April 2016 aggression, when Islamic State militants and radicals from Turkish nationalist groups were thrown against the civilian population of Karabakh,” he added.
The diplomat noted that as a responsible member of the international community, Armenia is committed to de-radicalization in the region.
“We have called and will continue to call for more decisive measures to prevent the spread of radicalism and extremism in the region, especially when the use of terrorists serves as a means of achieving the political goals of individual states or their leaders,” Karapetyan stated.