YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is worried over the Turkish invasion into Syria. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan told newspaper Corriere della Sera that Armenia has condemned it and thinks that the international community should take measures to force Turkey to withdraw its forces from Syrian territories.

Speaking about the refugees resulted by the Syrian war, Nikol Pashinyan noted that during this period Armenia gave shelter to 20 thousand Syrian refugees.

“Taking into account the population-refugees ratio, we rank 3^rd in terms of receiving the refugees. We have a population of 3 million. Giving a helping hand to the Syrian refugees is something like moral obligation for us. Syria is a country that needs help. 1^st of all this is an issue of humanitarian aid for us. At the beginning of the year our country sent a special mission there comprised of doctors, civilian de-miners”, ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan as saying.

To the question why helping Syria is a moral obligation for Armenia, PM Pashinyan answered that during the era of the Ottoman Empire the Syrian people saved numerous Armenians from the military forces of the empire.

“For that reason, now when the Syrians suffer, we cannot stand aside. I am glad we have the opportunity to pay back our moral debt”, Pashinyan said.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan