The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is not "complicated." Although Artsakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, is within the current borders of Azerbaijan, it is 98% Armenian, which is the indigenous nation, but because NATO and Russia both support the status quo, Artsakh finds itself besieged.
Now, Turkey is sending its "Free Syrian Army" mercenaries to Azerbaijan where they will be paid $1500 per month to take on the should-be-recognized Republic of Artsakh. Back in 2012 I was hesitant to call the Free Syrian Army as Turkish proxies insofar as they could have been Syrians who were using Turkey for their own ends, but look at them now, neo-Ottoman mercenaries, operating outside the Arab world!
How is the US involved? Last year the RAND Corporation published a report titled 'Extending Russia' which quite simply calls for starting wars to destabilize Eurasia in collaboration with the Turkish neo-Ottoman project.
The report specifically suggests that the US "Exploit Tensions in the South Caucasus." If you can read between the lines their 'Plan A' is obvious - Punish Artsakh until it forces Russia to intervene militarily in defense of Armenian national interests, which is a recipe for war. As for 'Plan B,' the US could "induce" Armenia to subordinate itself to NATO's orbit.
The goal for the US is that "Russia might be forced to withdraw from its army base at Gyumri and an army and air base near Yerevan," and it would seem they're willing to encourage NATO aggression to achieve that by using the lives of Armenians as a bargaining tool in collaboration with the pan-Turkic project.
The reason I worry about my Pakistani friends supporting Turkey in this conflict is because their country has made immense progress in improving their relations with Russia, which quite frankly, is very forgiving on the part of the Russians given that in the 1980's Pakistan was doing exactly what Turkey is doing today, that is, arming religious zealots and warlords to destabilize an ally of Russia (Afghanistan).
Read the RAND report yourself.
Side note: "RAND is considered the U.S. Air Force’s think tank as it was established by General H. H. “Hap” Arnold, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and by aeronautical engineer Theodore von Kármán. The bulk of its funding in its early formation was from the Air Force. Therefore, when reading RAND reports it must be noted that articles are written through the eyes of US unilateralism and unipolarity."
Jay Tharappel is an Indian-born PhD Candidate at the University of Sydney and Managing Editor of Oriental Despot.
The views of the author does not necessarily reflect those of Greek City Times.
