Catalan MEP Clara Ponsatí has called on the EU's high representative for foreign policy, Josep Borrell, to stop Spain from selling arms to Turkey and recalled that the state is the main European arms provider to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's regime. "This must be stopped by the Commission, Mr Borrell," she said to the EU foreign minister, who was present at the European Parliament's plenary session this Wednesday.
Ponsatí made the call in a speech focusing on the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia - centred on Artsakh, also known as the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Weapons that EU members sell to Turkey, she said, are ending up being used in this conflict, which she described as "military aggression against the Armenian people" that "threatens the stability of the whole Caucasus region."
In this context, Ponsati called on the European Commission to "increase the pressure on Turkey and Azerbaijan" to stop the offensive against the Artsakh Republic. "The conflict can be and will be resolved through constructive negotiation between the parties."
"But to reach a peaceful solution, the right to self-determination of the citizens of the Republic of Artsakh must be respected," concluded Ponsatí. It was a speech which pointed a finger straight at Borrell, given the Catalan MEP's denouncement of Spain's dubious honour of being Turkey's main military partner, while she also affirmed that the solution to the dispute must be based on what the population wants - respecting the right to self-determination.
In late September, Azerbaijan launched an offensive in the Artsakh Republic that has led to an armed conflict between that country (with the cooperation of Turkey) and Armenia, in which hundreds of soldiers have already been killed.
On Monday, 48 MEPs (including the exiled Catalan president Carles Puigdemont) signed a letter addressed to Josep Borrell calling for the EU to take measures "to immediately stop the aggression against Azerbaijan's unacceptable military aggression in Artsakh [which is Armenian territory]".
48 eurodiputats reclamem per carta a la UE que prengui mesures immediates per posar fi a la inacceptable agressió militar d'Azerbaidjan a l'Artsakh armeni. pic.twitter.com/Y49AlHjshB
— Junts i Lliures per Europa (@JuntsEU) October 5, 2020