By Tsarizm Staff | July 31, 2020

Turkey, the only Islamic member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, since the 1950s, is now sending fighter jets designed by the United States to Muslim Azerbaijan, as a symbol for possible use in its conflict with Christian Armenia.

We have written extensively how Turkish President Recep Erdogan is destroying the secular nature of the Turkish state set up by Kemal Ataturk after the fall of the Ottoman Empire early in the 20th century, as Ataturk feared Islamic extremism. Erdogan’s directive that Christian cathedral Hagia Sofia (the birthplace of Byzantine Orthodox Christianity) in Istanbul be returned to its state as a mosque as during the reign of the Ottomans, is but one example of this trend.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a ‘frozen conflict’ of the Soviet Union since the fall of the USSR in the early 1990s, mainly over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave located inside of Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus. Recent fighting along the border between the two nations killed 16 people, including an Azerbaijani general.

“Turkish F-16 fighter jets have arrived in Azerbaijan for joint military exercises, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said on Friday. In a statement, the ministry said the jets will take part in the TurAz Qartali-2020 Joint Exercises, which began on Wednesday,” Anadolu reported. “The drill, involving jets and helicopters, will continue in the capital Baku as well as Nakhchivan, Ganja, Kurdamir, and Yevlakh until Aug. 10,” reported Breitbart.

An Azerbaijani military officer recently warned Armenia that his forces had the capability to destroy the Metsomor nuclear plant inside Armenia, which would cause a nuclear disaster in the South Caucasus.

“The Armenian side must not forget that our army’s state-of-the-art missile systems allow us to strike the Metsamor nuclear plant with precision, which could lead to a great catastrophe for Armenia,” the spokesman, Vagif Dargahli, said. 

Turkey’s deployment of NATO fighter aircraft to the Muslim country brings up memories of the Armenia genocide committed by the Ottomans against Armenian Christians from 1914 to 1923, resulting in the deaths of over one million souls. Most of the able-bodied men were immediately murdered, while women, old and children were marched to Syria, where they were abused, raped and died from exposure along the way

Erdogan must be aware of the symbolism of this fighter jet deployment. However, since Erdogan considers himself the new ‘sultan’ of the Turkish caliphate, he continues on an aggressive, expansionist course with his regional neighbors.

Turkey is active in the Balkans to once again Islamify the area, especially in Albania and Kosovo. Ankara is encroaching on Greek fishing zones, and supporting Libyan forces against Russian-backed General Haftar in North Africa.

The Russian Federation sells weapons to both sides of the conflict and has tried to mediate the Nagorno-Karabakh issue for decades. Orthodox Christian Russia maintains a military base inside Armenia.

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This piece originally appeared on Tsarizm.com and is used by permission.

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