Macron Calls Turkish Comments on Caucasus Conflict ‘Dangerous’

(Bloomberg) -- French president Emmanuel Macron said Turkey’s declarations on Azeri-Armenian fighting were “dangerous.”

“We won’t accept any escalatory message,” Macron said during a press conference in the Latvian capital, Riga.

“The political declarations of Turkey are thoughtless and dangerous,” the French leader said on a three-day trip to the Baltics. “The bellicose messages of the past few hours, somehow, remove inhibitions from the part of Azerbaijan in what would be a reconquest of High Karabakh.”

Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh has broken out repeatedly since Armenians seized control of the territory and surrounding areas from Azerbaijan, in a war that started soon after the 1991 collapse of the former Soviet Union, killing more than 30,000 people and displacing another 1 million.

Despite decades of mediation by the U.S., Russia and France, no peace accord was ever signed. The latest bout of fighting that started Sept. 27 differs from many previous skirmishes since the end of the war in 1994, both in scale and in geopolitical risk. This time, Turkey has given unreserved backing to its ally Azerbaijan, raising the stakes significantly.

In the press conference, Macron called for an unconditional ceasefire following shootings which he said came from Azerbaijan. He cautioned that, at this stage, there was no evidence that Turkey was providing help to the country.

Macron will speak to Russian leader Vladimir Putin later Wednesday, to U.S. President Donald Trump tomorrow and also discuss the conflict with European Union leaders during a summit starting Thursday. The Minsk group, gathering the U.S., France and Russia, should also speak in coming hour, Macron said.

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