TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel has silently assisted fuel Azerbaijan’s project to regain Nagorno-Karabakh, providing effective weapons to Azerbaijan ahead of its lightening offensive last month that brought the ethnic Armenian enclave back under its control, authorities and specialists state.
Just weeks priorto Azerbaijan introduced its 24-hour attack on Sept. 19, Azerbaijani military freight aircrafts consistently flew inbetween a southern Israeli airbase and an airfield near Nagorno-Karabakh, according to flight tracking information and Armenian diplomats, even as Western federalgovernments were advising peace talks.
The flights rattled Armenian authorities in Yerevan, long careful of the tactical alliance inbetween Israel and Azerbaijan, and shined a light on Israel’s nationwide interests in the restive area south of the Caucasus Mountains.
“For us, it is a significant issue that Israeli weapons haveactually been shooting at our individuals,” Arman Akopian, Armenia’s ambassador to Israel, informed The Associated Press. In a flurry of diplomatic exchanges, Akopian stated he revealed alarm to Israeli politicalleaders and legislators in current weeks over Israeli weapons deliveries.
“I puton’t see why Israel must not be in the position to reveal at least some issue about the fate of individuals being expelled from their homeland,” he informed AP.
Azerbaijan’s September blitz including heavy weapons, rocket launchers and drones — mostly provided by Israel and Turkey, according to professionals — required Armenian separatist authorities to lay down their weapons and sit down for talks on the future of the separatist area.
The Azerbaijani offending eliminated over 200 Armenians in the enclave, the huge bulk of them fighters, and some 200 Azerbaijani soldiers, according to authorities.
There are implications beyond the unpredictable enclave of 4,400 square kilometers (1,700 square miles). The combating triggered over 100,000 individuals — more than 80% of the enclave’s ethnic Armenian homeowners — to leave in the last 2 weeks. Azerbaijan hasactually vowed to regard the rights of ethnic Armenians.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hasactually described the exodus “a direct act of an ethnic cleaning.” Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry highly declined the allegation, stating the departures are a “personal and specific choice and (have) absolutelynothing to do with required moving.”
Israel’s foreign and defense ministries decreased to remark on the usage of Israeli weapons in Nagorno-Karabakh or on Armenian issues about its military collaboration with Azerbaijan. In July, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wentto Baku, the Azerbaijan capital, where he applauded the nations’ military cooperation and joint “fight versus terrorism.”
Israel has a huge stake in Azerbaijan, which serves as a crucial source of oil and is a strong ally versus Israel’s archenemy Iran. It is likewise a rewarding client of advanced arms.
“There’s no doubt about our position in assistance of Azerbaijan’s defense,” stated Arkady Mil-man, Israel’s previous ambassador to Azerbaijan and