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Turkey urges inter. organizations to intensify efforts over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

25 February 2015 15:38 (UTC+04:00)
Turkey urges inter. organizations to intensify efforts over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Turkey condemns genocide in Khojaly, a top Turkish official said during his visit to Azerbaijan on February 25.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkish Foreign Minister, whose visit coincided with the 23rd anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, expressed his condolences to the people of Azerbaijan at the meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku.

In 1992, the town of Khojaly came under intense fire from the Armenian-occupied towns of Khankendi and Askeran. 613 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 people were injured. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent.

Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage. To this day the fate of 150 civilians remains unknown. Many civilians were either shot at close range, scalped or burned alive.

Chavushoglu added that Turkey has always supported Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and will continue adhering to this position.

"The international community and international organizations, particularly the UN and the OSCE should intensify their efforts towards the settlement of the conflicts in the South Caucasus region," he noted.

"The peaceful resolution of conflicts in the South Caucasus, particularly the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity remains among Turkey's key priorities," he noted.

"That's why we are attentively pursuing the processes related to the regulation of the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, through the OSCE Minsk Group's efforts," he added.

Turkey, as a member of the Minsk Group, said Chavushoglu, always pushed forth the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as it considers the matter to be its own and has always called for a just and fair solution.

"We will look to promote Azerbaijan's interests before the international community," he stressed.

The protracted conflict in Karabakh came as a result of Armenia's military invasion of the Azerbaijan's internationally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent areas in the early 1990s.

As a result of such a bloody warfare, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory found itself under Armenia's occupation and that for over two decades. Moreover, over a million Azerbaijanis have been displaced, forced to live in refuge towns and camps following their coercive displacement by Armenia.

Chavushogly believes that a peaceful resolution of this conflict will serve the region's best interests and promote regional stability.

He went on to highlight the European Union's serious appreciation of Azerbaijan, and its role as a major gate for the EU to the Caspian region and the Central Asia.

"Azerbaijan can contribute to the EU in many spheres, energy and transport primarily" he added.

Mammadyarov, in turn, noted that Azerbaijan and Turkey remain committed to the "two states - one nation" principle.

“The cooperation between the two countries is based on this principle,” he added.

"We discussed various issues related to our cooperation, where I informed my counterpart about the negotiation process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement," Mammadyarov noted.

He added that the issue of holding other meetings of the foreign ministers in the Azerbaijan-Iran-Turkey and Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia formats was also discussed at the meeting.

"The ministers of the three countries will meet in Georgia at the end of this month to review the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project's implementation," Mammadyarov said.

Cavusoglu noted the significance of Azerbaijani president's state visit to Turkey and the meeting of the Turkey-Azerbaijan High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council in terms of strengthening bilateral bonds even further, at the meeting with President Ilham Aliyev.

President Aliyev, for his turn, expressed his confidence that the visit of the Turkish delegation to Azerbaijan will give a new impetus to the further expansion of bilateral relations.

He stressed the importance of discussions held during his Turkey visit on the future plans on joint activities, adding that Turkey-Azerbaijan ties are very important for the two countries' peoples and region, as well as for the world.

"The unity between Turkey and Azerbaijan is the guarantor of stability in the region," President Aliyev said.

The two diplomats have also exchanged their views over the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars and TANAP projects, military-technical cooperation and the issues related to the further expansion of relations in other areas.

Turkey and Europe

Turkey believes that Azerbaijan can make a big contribution to the work of the G20, Cavushoglu said following the talks with Mammadyarov.

He added that Turkey has the right to invite one country to the summit of the Great Twenty during its presidency, and this country is Azerbaijan.

“We believe that Azerbaijan’s participation in the G20 summit will make its contribution to the work of the G20,” Cavushoglu noted.

Mammadyarov, in turn, thanked his Turkish counterpart for the invitation to the summit, voicing Azerbaijan's readiness to contribute to the G20’s activity.

Earlier last December, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Ali Babacan said Turkey invited Azerbaijan to take part in the G20 summit, which will be held in Antalya in 2015.

He said Azerbaijan’s participation in the G20 summit was of special importance for Turkey.

EU membership is a strategic goal of Turkey and we want to take a place in this union of European countries, united around common laws and values, and to participate in this structure, said Chavushoglu told Trend.

“Democracy, human rights, rule of law, the laws and values ​​of the EU are the main features of the reforms conducted by Turkey,” he said.

“After completing the discussion stage, the parties themselves will take the final decision on Turkey’s EU membership. One of the important features for Turkey is to ensure the highest standards in every area, including the citizens’ well-being,” Chavushoglu noted.

He added that Turkey’s membership at the EU doesn’t mean that the country will be indifferent to the developments in the region, or will pursue a unilateral foreign policy.

“Turkey will continue to realize the goals of the multilateral foreign policy, conditioned by geographical location, historical and cultural ties of the country,” Cavusoglu noted.

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Follow Mushvig Mehdiyev on Twitter: @Mushviggo

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