Sanction and Isolate Turkey and Azerbaijan

In the long and winding road of human history, there has always been a classic battle between good and evil, between the oppressed and oppressor, between the victims and those who seek destruction. Armenian history has been a parallel path for the entirety of the ancient and modern civilization. It is clear that the oppressor rarely stops on their own accord. They must be confronted by those who stand on the right side of human dignity. This week we witnessed the first tangible attempt to stop the wanton destruction waged against the Armenian people by the Turkic alliance. Russia, one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and the traditional regional influence in the Caucasus, was able to convince PM Pashinyan and President Aliyev to send their foreign ministers to Moscow to negotiate a “humanitarian ceasefire.” In a contentious dialogue, both sides agreed to and signed on for a ceasefire to begin on October 10.

As privately predicted, Azerbaijan is continuing its uncivilized behavior of not honoring any agreement they sign. The ground assaults and artillery attacks on civilian targets began almost immediately and have unfortunately continued, forcing Armenia and Artsakh to defend themselves. For several reasons, this is a major red line that the Turks have crossed. It is widely known that Azerbaijan has abdicated a part of its sovereignty to Turkey for their military, economic and political support. Turkey intends to establish a major sphere of influence in the Caucasus as another element of their new-Ottoman ambitions. Russia may have something to say about this. The violation of the ceasefire brokered by Russia is not only the responsibility of Azerbaijan, but also is a clear message of defiance from Turkey. Apparently, Russia was not prepared for the Turkish response. Russia was hopeful of a limited but defined ceasefire as not only ending hostilities but re-establishing its control over the region. Turkey is playing a dangerous game with its proxy war in Artsakh. Russia has to be very concerned about the brazen import of jihadis from Syria and elsewhere. It wasn’t that long ago that Russia was dealing with a major internal issue in Dagestan and Chechnya as it relates to Islamists. Turkey has often mentioned the vast Islamic resources on the underbelly of Central Asia which is on Russia’s southern border. The question with Turkey is not their arrogance or expansionist thinking, but who will confront them. Both the west and Russia have tried the patronizing and pseudo-collaborative approach with disastrous results.