Envoy: Unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict increases inequities towards Azerbaijan
By Gunay Hasanova
Turkey’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Erkan Ozoral stressed that the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict leads to increased inequities towards Azerbaijan.
The envoy made the remark while addressing a conference “Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-speaking countries over the last 25 years” in the Parliament of Azerbaijan on November 24.
“Nagorno-Karabakh is a bleeding wound of Azerbaijan and Turkey”, said Ozoral. “The pendency of this conflict leads to increased inequities towards our fraternal country.”
He noted the importance of restoring the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
Ozoral added that Turkey has done everything possible for newly independent Turkic-speaking countries to occupy a worthy place in the international arena.
Ankara backs Baku on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and advocates a solution to this problem in the framework of territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. Turkey has repeatedly voiced its desire to contribute to peace and stability in the region.
The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Currently, it is co-chaired by the Russian Federation, the U.S., and France.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.
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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova
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