Турция

After the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the South Caucasus as a result of defeat in WWI, the "Turkish factor" continued to exist in Azerbaijan, since thousands of Turkish officers and soldiers were recruited to the Azerbaijani army and actively participated in the military operations of Azerbaijani army against Armenians in Karabakh.

[стр. 225] Turkey and the Karabakh Conflict in 1990s: a Comparative Historical Analysis

The new phase of confrontation started in February 1988, when the local Council of People's Deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) passed a resolution appealing to the Supreme Councils of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the USSR, asking for NKAO to be handed over to the jurisdiction of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.

In the early stage of the conflict, Turkey adopted a very cautious attitude towards the conflict, fearing a possible negative reaction from the Soviet government. A month before the collapse of the USSR, Turkey secured its role as protector of Azerbaijan by becoming the first country to officially recognize its independence.

After the breakup of the USSR in early 1990s, the pan-Turkist ambitions in Turkey were revived once again, striving to push Ankara to a new geopolitical role. Stressing Turkey's ethno-linguistic, cultural and historical proximity with Azerbaijan and the Turkic republics of Central Asia, Turkish leaders got actively involved in promoting the establishment of a Turkic confederation under the leadership of Turkey.

The Turkic factor was clearly one of the various factors affecting the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Several Turkic-speaking countries were involved in efforts both to resolve the conflict and to. escalate it; the latter was especially evident in the case of Turkey's pro-Azerbaijani position.

Taking into consideration the many facts and factors of Turkish interference in the zone of the Karabakh conflict, it should be stated that Turkey, openly supporting Azerbaijan in its war against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, was party to the conflict rather than to its solution. The Turkish involvement in the conflict included the following components:

• threats of military intervention, pressure through display of force,

• implementing the transportation and energy blockade of Armenia,

• providing military support to Azerbaijan,

• developing initiatives directed at the formation of an anti-Armenian coalition and information isolation of Armenia,

• lobbying Azerbaijani interests in international organizations.

Both Azerbaijan and Turkey have been trying to present the conflict as a confrontation of "Turkic brothers" with Armenians so as to win the support of Turkic republics of Central Asia. Turkey joined the Azerbaijan-initiated economic blockade of Armenia and rejected Armenia's proposition to establish diplomatic and trade relations. Ankara's preconditions on establishing ties with Armenia were that Armenia should

• discontinue its support of efforts to achieve international recognition of Armenian genocide;

• renounce territorial claims to Turkey,

• withdraw its troops from Azerbaijan and recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh.

[стр. 226] Summary

History became one of the main obstacles to the establishment of mutually beneficial relations. The key issue here is Turkey's denial of the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide. One of the initiatives aimed at aborting the international recognition of the Genocide had been the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission established in 2001.

In 1992-1994, Turkish leaders regularly made aggressive statements threatening a military intervention into Armenia.

With the successes of Armenian troops in Karabakh, the option of a military intervention into the conflict was widely discussed in Turkish political and military circles. However, in May 1992 a very sharp reaction followed from Moscow: the Chief of General Staff of the Joint CIS Force warned Turkey that such action could unleash a global war. Forced to give up the idea of a military intervention, Turkey continued to provide military as well as economic aid to Azerbaijan. Turkey's support of Azerbaijan was intended, amongst other things, to show its commitment to promoting and protecting Turkic nations and communities. As further proof, the Turkish army and intelligence services launched undercover operations to supply Azerbaijan with arms and military personnel. According to Turkish sources, over 350 high-ranking officers and thousands of volunteers from Turkey participated in the warfare on the Azerbaijani side. Western authors reported several major shipments of weapons from Turkey, including brining an arsenal of Soviet-made arms from former German Democratic Republic (GDR).