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4.International Reactions to the Second Karabakh War
Turkey - "I call on the Armenian people to oppose their catastrophic government and those who play them as puppets, and take ownership of their future. I call on the whole world to stand by Azerbaijan in its struggle against occupation and oppression. Unfortunately, the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, which have ignored this issue for almost 30 years, show no sign of action to resolve it. Armenia has once again shown itself to be the main threat to peace and stability in the region. Today, as always, the Turkish nation is by fraternal Azerbaijani with all its means", said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a speech.Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, and Deputy Chairman of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Numan Kurtulmuş, visited the Azerbaijani embassy in Ankara. There they met Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Turkey, Khazar Ibrahim. "The solution to this problem is very simple. Armenia must withdraw from the occupied Azerbaijani lands", the minister said there.Turkey’s Minister of Defence, Hulusi Akar, declared that his country was with Azerbaijan, stressing that Armenia's position was the biggest obstacle to peace and stability in the Caucasus.The fraternal Republic of Turkey demonstrated unequivocally, in both word and deed, that it was with Azerbaijan in the Patriotic War.
The United Kingdom defended Azerbaijan's just position, as well as its territorial integrity, during the Second Karabakh War. A permanent member of the UN Security Council, the United Kingdom vetoed a draft statement on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict that was prepared on behalf of the chairman of the Security Council and was negative towards Azerbaijan; thus, it was not adopted.
US - US First Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Bigan contacted Azerbaijani Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan to urge both sides to immediately suspend military operations, use existing direct contacts to avoid further escalation and refrain from rhetoric and actions that could escalate tension in the region.
Richard Hoagland, former US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, said: "According to international law, Armenia has invaded and occupied the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, another sovereign state." He noted that the main policy of the United States was to support and protect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed in speeches that "Armenia is an ally within the CSTO, but Nagorno-Karabakh does not belong to Armenia, so Russia has no obligation other than mediation concerning military operations in Karabakh." Russia’s Foreign Ministry called on the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for an immediate ceasefire. There were reports during the 44-day war of an increase in supplies of weapons and military equipment being transported from Russia to Armenia. According to those reports, weapons and military equipment were flown along a Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran route as Georgia forbade the transport of military cargo across its territory. However, Russia has repeatedly stated that the officially transported cargo consisted of construction materials for its military base in Armenia, and not of weapons and military equipment.
Italy - Italy defended Azerbaijan’s just position during the Second Karabakh War, as well as its territorial integrity. The municipalities of Sepino and San Giuliano del Sannio in the Italian province of Campobasso and the municipal commune of Corbetta in the Metroplitan City of Milan adopted documents condemning Armenia's policy of aggression, ethnic cleansing and genocide against Azerbaijan, and expressing solidarity with the Azerbaijani people.
France - France called on Yerevan and Baku to suspend military operations immediately and resume talks. A French Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement that, "France is extremely concerned about the conflict."
France supported occupying Armenia in the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict. French President Emmanuel Macron's statement of 30 September on the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan was inconsistent with the country's mission as co-chair of the Minsk Group to mediate and resolve the conflict, and it called that mission into question. A draft resolution to recognise the ‘Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’, adopted by the Senate of the French Republic on 25 November 2020, drew justified protest from Azerbaijan.
Georgia - President Salome Zurabishvili called for reconciliation and expressed her support for the maintenance of regional peace and security. Mikhail Saakashvili, third president of Georgia, gave his opinion on his Facebook page, "My position is based on the principle of territorial integrity, ie. Nagorno-Karabakh is the sovereign territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan and nothing will change that." Georgia forbade the transport of military cargo to Armenia across its territory and airspace during the 44-day war.
Serbia - Information was received confirming arms sales by Serbia to Armenia before and during the 44-day war. Azerbaijan issued protests about this to Serbia.
Germany - German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that Armenia and Azerbaijan should immediately renounce the use of force in favour of detailed talks and called on both sides of the conflict to suspend all military operations immediately. He also expressed concern about the shelling of villages and settlements.
Iran - Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that Iran was following the military clashes closely and that Tehran was ready to mediate a ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Iranian officials denied reports of military shipments from Iran to Armenia during the war, and Iranian airspace and land routes were closed to prevent arms shipments to Armenia. There were also notable rallies in support of Azerbaijan's victories in various of Iran’s cities. The liberation of Shusha and Azerbaijan's taking control of its border with Iran were greeted with special joy in Tabriz, Ardebil and other cities. Internet footage of the Azerbaijani army attacking the occupiers, taken from the other side of the River Araz, on the Iranian border, was viewed widely.
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