President Armen Sarkissian gave an interview to Al Jazeera, according to a press release issued by the President’s Office.

In an interview with Al Jazeera TV’s “Special Interview” program, President Armen Sarkissian strongly condemned Turkey’s involvement and active participation in the recent hostilities against Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

Question: Mr. President, are you ready for a peaceful settlement today?

– Today the situation has changed because Turkey is involved, is directly involved with its generals, officers, advisers, mercenaries brought from Syria. They also use Turkish-made drones and F-16 fighters. Internationally, this can be interpreted as ethnic cleansing. From the beginning, there was a mechanism for a peaceful settlement of the conflict between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan – negotiations. But from the moment Turkey got involved…

Question: The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan states that the Armenian soldiers are fighting together with the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. How would you comment on that?

– They are Armenians; and they cannot allow another genocide to take place. They are volunteers who have come to support their compatriots. They did not come from any third country, as in the case of Azerbaijan. Turkey is now involved in ethnic cleansing in the fight against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.
If volunteers help their brothers and sisters, there is nothing wrong with that.

Question: In other words, you accept that there are Armenian fighters who are neither from Armenia nor from the region. Is this natural for you?

– This is absolutely natural, because we are a small country, but a world nation. This is natural, because every Armenian remembers that 105 years ago the same Turkey, which is now involved in Nagorno Karabakh, massacred 1.5 million Armenians. The same Turkey that carried out ethnic cleansing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire created the Diaspora. All these people remember this. We, as a nation, our relatives will never allow the Genocide to be repeated.