The United States recognizes its hope that Armenia will defend itself against the Azeris and criticizes Turkey's interference

What was originally a regional conflict may become, once again, a conflict with international actors involved. The fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan already involves Turkey on the Azeri side. Following the declarations of US Secretary Mike Pompeo, doubts have arisen as to how far Americans are prepared to go to maintain the ceasefire. 

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced hope on Thursday that Armenia would "defend" itself against Azerbaijan, appearing to show sympathy to one side over the fierce clashes. "We’re hopeful that the Armenians will be able to defend against what the Azerbaijanis are doing," Pompeo said in an interview with WBS radio in Atlanta. 

The United States has been one of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group since 1992, the international body charged with finding a peaceful solution to the conflict. Therefore, after these partisan statements, he immediately voiced hope that the two sides would "get the ceasefire right, and then sit down at the table and try and sort through... what is a truly historic and complicated problem set."

Since the outbreak of the conflict last September 26, more countries were directly involved in the clash, for example Turkey. The top US diplomat also criticised the Ottoman country for its participation in the conflict with Turkish militia and high impact weapons.

“We now have the Turks, who have stepped in and provided resources to Azerbaijan, increasing the risk, increasing the firepower that’s taking place in this historic fight,” Pompeo said. 

That is why he called for the fulfilment of the international commitments of the Minsk Group. “The resolution of that conflict ought to be done through negotiation and peaceful discussions, not through armed conflict, and certainly not with third party countries coming in to lend their firepower to what is already a powder keg of a situation,” he stressed. 

In response to criticism from NATO allies, Turkey accused Armenia of occupying Azeri territory and pledged its full support for Azerbaijan. Armenia, for its part, said on Monday that Turkey's actions in arming Azerbaijan and supplying foreign fighters showed Ankara's "expansionist ambitions" in the Caucasus region. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), based in Britain, confirmed on September 28 that Ankara had sent at least 300 militiamen from Northern Syria to Baku. This is how the news announced on Twitter of the transfer of these militiamen from North Africa, Libya, and Syria to the Caucasus was confirmed. 

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, had also said that intelligence reports had established that 300 Syrian fighters from the Syrian city of Aleppo had passed through the Turkish city of Gaziantep en route to Azerbaijan. “These fighters are known, tracked and identified”, Macron said, adding that he would call Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the next days to discuss the matter. Turkey has said that it "will do whatever is necessary" to support Azerbaijan, but it has denied to have sent any mercenaries.

Since last weekend, when the International Red Cross tried to proclaim a humanitarian ceasefire, the war has continued while Azerbaijan and Armenia have accused each other of violating the agreement not to attack each other. "On the morning of October 12, the Armenian Armed Forces bombed the region of Agdam," states a communiqué from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence. According to the Azeri side, the Armenian troops attempted to regain positions south of Nagorno-Karabakh, but were repelled.  

Last weekend's clashes have been concentrated in the south of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsaj. The spokesperson of the Armenian Ministry of Defence, Shushan Stepanian, denounced that the Azerbaijani forces attacked with artillery fire in the south of Nagorno-Karabakh. "The night in the conflict zone was tense. Now the enemy is punishing the southern sector with intense artillery fire “, Stepanián wrote on Facebook.

Stepanakert, the Karabakh capital, which was the scene of several night bombings during the weekend, has also been attacked, although life seemed to return to normal during the day. Furthermore, Azerbaijan reported that the Armenian artillery attacked the country's second city, Ganja, where nine people are reported to have been killed, in the most serious attack on the civilian population since the beginning of hostilities. 

There is a strong desire among the local population to see the ceasefire, which came into effect on Saturday, take hold. Some shops and businesses reopened with great insecurity. Despite the humanitarian ceasefire coming into effect last Saturday at noon, military actions have not ceased. On September 26, a war resumed in Nagorno-Karabakh that has already claimed hundreds of lives of civilians and soldiers. 

Azerbaijan maintains that the solution to the conflict with Armenia necessarily involves the liberation of the occupied territories, a demand that has been backed by several UN Security Council resolutions. Armenia, however, supports the right to self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh and advocates the participation of the representatives of the separatist territory in the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict.