Aliev's threat to use F-16 draws Russian political analysts' attention

Ilham Aliev's statement about the readiness to use Turkish F-16 fighters in case of foreign intervention in the Karabakh conflict has been provoked by Turkey, the Russian political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe. In their opinion, Istanbul is demonstratively supporting Baku.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 26, Ilham Aliev said that Baku would go "to the end" in the Karabakh conflict; and in case of "foreign aggression" he threatened to use Turkish F-16 fighters.

In reality, Turkish fighters are unlikely to be used, says Alexei Malashenko, a political analyst and the head of scientific studies at the "Civilizations' Dialogue" Institute. "For him (Aliev), this is an extreme measure," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Mr Malashenko believes that Armenia was the main addressee of Aliev's message. "This is his desire to strengthen his position at negotiations from a power position, forcing his enemy to fear. Not the best move, I must say," he has stressed. Perhaps Turkey has pushed the Azerbaijani president to such a statement, the political analyst has noted.

Arkady Dubnov, a political analyst, believes that Aliev's statement was intended for Russia. "This speech is a signal that Azerbaijan will be ready to fight with any third country that wants to intervene and take the side of Armenia. Only Russia can be such a country," he has stated.

Mr Dubnov believes that this statement was largely provoked by the Turkey's activities in support of Azerbaijan. "I would link this statement with Putin's talk with Erdogan, where, according to the Turkish version, Ankara made it clear that it was ready to speak rather toughly on behalf of Azerbaijan," he has noted.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 30, 2020 at 03:11 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.