In an op-ed in the Washington Times on Sunday, Oct. 17, Professor Edward Lozansky, the president of American University in Moscow, called on President Donald Trump to use his influence “calling [Turkey’s] President Erdogan to order” in his attempts to foment the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He cited the rare positive moment recently when the leaders of the U.S., Russia, the EU, NATO, and the UN together called for a ceasefire over Nagorno-Karabakh. “However, Turkey, which is also a NATO member, is doing everything possible to pour gasoline into this fire. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s words and deeds are the major obstacles to stopping the violence,” he writes. “I believe it is the time for President Trump to make a major effort to resolve this crisis, thus increasing his list of achievements as a peacemaker,” referring to the Abraham Accords between the U.A.E., Bahrain, and Israel.
Lozansky also observed the influx of radical extremist groups being sent from Syria to Azerbaijan “through the guiding hand of Turkey. It is an open secret among the international intelligence community (and one exposed by Gen. Michael Flynn in 2014) that many of the `moderate rebels’ fighting to overthrow the Syrian government were actually trained and armed by the U.S. during the Obama years. Mr. Trump has demonstrated a commitment toward fighting terrorism and it is the time for him to step in while calling Mr. Erdogan to order.”
