Turkish PM: Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is bleeding wound for years
By Rashid Shirinov
Turkey shares the grief of Azerbaijani people over deaths of its servicemen during the recent battles on the contact line of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim made the remark while addressing a meeting of Justice and Development Party (AKP) on February 28.
Yildirim noted that the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been a bleeding wound for many years.
“The Azerbaijani territories were occupied by Armenia and this problem hasn’t been solved yet. Azerbaijan’s sorrow is Turkey’s sorrow and Azerbaijan’s happiness is Turkey’s happiness,” he said.
The prime minister further stressed that Turkey will always support Azerbaijan in its fair case.
At midnight on February 25, units of the Armenian armed forces attempted to penetrate into the positions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. The Armenian armed group aimed to conduct large-scale provocation on the frontline and to seize advantageous positions in Khojavand-Fizuli direction of the frontline. After heavy battles between the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces bravely prevented the Armenian attacks. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan had casualties during the battles.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli, in his speech at the Turkish Parliament, said that the time has come for a just solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.
The responsibility for the increased tension on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops falls on Armenia, Bahceli stated.
“Armenia must cease its violations of the ceasefire and withdraw its troops from the occupied Azerbaijani lands," said Bahceli.
Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.
Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.
Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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