Yerevan /Mediamax/. At a press conference today, former President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has spoked on the role of Russia and Turkey during the April War of 2016 and the security of Artsakh’s air space.

On Russia’s role

Serzh Sargsyan has described as “ignorant” from the political point of view the statement made by Nikol Pashinyan in 2018 (before he became PM) that “Azerbaijan agreed the April War with Russia and the war was provoked by Russia.”

“When people express unverified, discrediting thoughts about the allies, it has bad consequences. Russia is our strategic ally and making such a statement is an accusation of betrayal and provoking war against your ally, is unacceptable, especially given that Russia has provided us enormous support,” said Serzh Sargsyan.

He has noted that according to the agreement signed in Yerevan in 2010, the Russian military base in Armenia assumed news duties: in addition to ensuring the security of the external CIS borders, the base has also assumed responsibility for the entire length of Armenia’s borders. Sargsyan has also said that under this agreement, Russia has assumed responsibility for updating Armenia’s arsenal.

“Up to the events of April 2018 (before his resignation - Mediamax), we received over 50,000 tons of military-technical assistance. In this case, it is simply impossible to claim that the April events took place with the knowledge and instigation of Russia. Only Armenia has Iskander systems, wouldn’t you call it an ally’s treatment? It is only due to Iskander that there was not a large-scale war but only large-scale military operations in April 2016,” he said.

On Turkey’s role

The former President of Armenia has noted that in April 2016, Turkey was the only country not to condemn Azerbaijan’s aggression, which means that Turkey unconditionally accepts whatever is beneficial to Azerbaijan.

“I do not rule out that their actions were clearly coordinated before, but I cannot say for certain whether Turkish experts or troops took part in the April War. We have verified reports that Turkish and Israeli instructors and experts were in Azerbaijan during the four-day period and in the days preceding it,” said Serzh Sargsyan.