‘In a sense Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh are fighting for security of Europeans’ – Sarkissian

President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian met with Armenian and foreign politicians and public figures, also representatives of authoritative international media from the Diaspora and various countries. They are in Armenia on the initiative of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), they will also visit Artsakh, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

At the meeting, the President was asked in particular about the military aggression against Artsakh which was unleashed by Azerbaijan assisted by Turkey, the role of the international community in the settlement of this conflict, and the support of the Diaspora.

Answering the question of a European journalist about starting a war, President Sarkissian emphasized that Azerbaijan waged war. "Armenians did not start this war, they did not start shelling civilian settlements. And there is no need to prove this, as the Armenians have no reason to start a war. How can you build schools, hospitals, roads and churches and then start a war? This is not logical. It is obvious that Azerbaijan and Turkey started this war."

The President stressed that Azerbaijan's claims that they were liberating their territories has, in fact, another internationally accepted formulation and is called "ethnic cleansing," as they seek to take over a territory by annihilating the ethnic Armenians who have lived there for thousands of years. "They are now destroying schools, hospitals, committing inhumane acts, taking away human lives: of the elderly, children and young people."

Touching upon Turkey's involvement, President Sarkissian noted that Turkey provides full military-political support to Azerbaijan, citing a number of factors, among them their ethnic brotherhood and the protection of international infrastructures. Whereas, in reality, Turkey's goal is to establish itself in the region, and to rule over the same international infrastructures. "By getting so close to Turkey, Azerbaijan is losing some of its sovereignty." There are more and more facts that decisions in Baku are taken on the advice of Turkey."

At the same time, the President of Armenia stressed that the people of Turkey and the Turkish government should be separated. "In 2007, when this government was not so strong, and Turkey was a different country, the famous Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was killed in front of his editorial office in Istanbul. I remember very well how on the day of his funeral hundreds of thousands of Turks took to the streets and declared that they were Hrant Dink. "I am talking about the current Turkish government and its policies."

President Sarkissian stressed the need to stop the war. "Now this is a war not only for our heritage, culture, survival, the people of Nagorno Karabakh, - said Armen Sarkissian, -In a sense, the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh are fighting for the security of Europeas well. If we do not stop Turkey's ambitions in Azerbaijan today, if Turkey rules in Azerbaijan, we will have a situation when Europe suffers as well.

I think that if it were not for the factor of Turkey's involvement, Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan would have had a ceasefire. Each time the ceasefire was violated not by the Armenians, but by the enemy. "As President of the Republic, I think there is no military solution."

Answering the question what gives him hope in these difficult days, President Sarkissian said: "When you talk about hope, it seems like you do not know what you do, you just have hope. I work hard every day, I know what I do, I am...