Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

Armenia must be held accountable for the crimes committed in Azerbaijan’s Khojaly town, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on December 14 in response to a recent statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry regarding the Armenian-Turkish protocols.

“Armenia must immediately withdraw from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, and instead of making claims against Turkey on “genocide” [the so-called “Armenian genocide”], Armenia must be held accountable for the crimes committed in Khojaly,” the ministry said.

The Turkish MFA also noted that the signing of the Armenian-Turkish protocols was aimed at achieving peace and stability in the South Caucasus and ensuring the liberation of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

The Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Armenia signed protocols on the normalization of relations between the two states in October 2009, but they were never ratified.

The Turkish MFA noted that the country condemns the statement of the Armenian FM on the Armenian-Turkish protocols, since such statements are aimed at distorting the true essence and purpose of these documents.

“The Armenian-Turkish protocols were signed to normalize relations between the two countries, however the Constitutional Court of Armenia on January 12, 2010, put forward a number of conditions that contradicted the text and purposes of the protocols,” the ministry said.

Turkey and Armenia severed diplomatic relations in 1993 due to occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenian Armed Forces and Yerevan’s claims over recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide. Borders between Turkey and Armenia are still closed.

Turkey has always supported the resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of the country's internationally recognized borders.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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