BY APPO JABARIAN
Political observers agree that it is in Azerbaijan/Turkey’s self-interests to see a major escalation of the Russia-United States conflict in Ukraine. How can Azerbaijan/Turkey benefit from such a major military confrontation between the two superpowers? – Through playing both ends against the middle; – Through lip-service anti-Russian rhetoric, both Ankara and Baku feign loyalty toward Washington in order to extract maximum benefits from the U.S. State Department and U.S. Department of Defense; – Both Ankara and Baku reportedly are exploiting their alliance with Washing- ton DC in order to pro-Turkish concessions from Moscow; – Both Ankara and Baku are helping Russia avoid the Western economic sanctions by peddling their status as ‘trustworthy’ ‘U.S. allies.’ There are persistent re- ports that Turkey and Azerbaijan are facilitating Russia’s illegal oil and gas exports to Europe under the cover of transporting Azerbaijani-produced energy; But more ominous for the United States, Europe, Russia, Iran, India and China is the prospect of the creation of a Pan-Turkic empire that can negatively impact the geopolitical balance of power in the world’s most important region stretching from Eastern Mediterranean through the Armenian Highlands of the South Caucasus all the way to Central Asia. This clarifies why Turkic Azerbaijan is aiming at perpetrating ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh: Forcible occupation of southern Armenia’s Syunik region that connects Azerbaijan proper to the exclave of Nakhichevan. Turkey (recently renamed ‘Turkiye’) and Nakhichevan are already connected via land. Forcible occupation of Armenian Artsakh/Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia’s Syunik can facilitate an important ‘phase’ in accomplishing Azerbaijan/Turkey’s neo-Ottoman imperial dream. In order to gain tacit approval from U.S. State Department on targeting Armenia and Artsakh with a final genocide, Turkey and Azerbaijan are effectively sugarcoating their own imperial ambitions with their ‘readiness’ in helping the U.S.- based neoconservative/neoliberal agenda of attacking Iran at all costs. Are Washington, Paris, Moscow, New Delhi, Tehran and Brussels able to reconcile with such a geopolitical adverse development that can be detrimental to their national interests in the Greater Middle East, the Mediterranean Basin and Central Asia? Now we see, why an increasing number of non-Armenian Americans are join- ing American Armenians – for that matter the world Armenians, in assisting Armenia and Artsakh/Nagorno Karabakh consolidate their Sovereignty, Independence and Defense. This new movement is fast-growing under the able leadership of U.S. Army Major General (Ret.) Mark MacCarley. Mr. MacCarley is the founding Chairman of AANSI – The American Armenian National Security Institute. TURKEY/TURKIYE’S ABUSE OF ITS STATUS AS A ‘MAJOR NATO ALLY’ Various observers insist that during the Fall 2020’s 44-Day anti-Armenian Aggression by Azerbaijan-Turkey-ISIS terrorists, Ankara and Baku have repeatedly wielded Turkey’s status as a ‘major’ NATO ally in order to isolate Armenia and Artsakh, and get away with misusing NATO-provided weaponry. The unprovoked massive anti-Armenian terrorist aggression by Azerbaijan-Turkey-ISIS was carried out under the cover of 2020’s global covid-19 pandemic and U.S. preoccupation by 2020 presidential election. In 1915, Turkey similarly had exploited the international community’s preoccupation with the 1914-1918 World War I in order to perpetrate the First Armenian Genocide and illegal occupation of Western Armenia. In light of 2023’s world preoccupation with Russia-Ukraine War, Azerbaijan and Turkey are angling to jointly execute the invasion of Armenia and Artsakh even at the cost of executing a new genocide. Therefore, Turkish perpetration of The Second and Final Genocide against Armenians now looms very large. Armenia and Artsakh /Nagorno Karabakh should not be neglected and deserted to their fate neither by the US/EU, nor by Russia and Iran in the face of the new Turkish genocidal onslaught. US/EU, Russia and Iran should empower the twin Armenian republics to continue serving as roadblock to the establishment of a Pan-Turkic Empire. Armenia and Artsakh /Nagorno Karabakh should be assisted in fast-becoming garrison states in order to discourage the archenemies from attacking them ever again.