Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

Turkish Ambassador to Baku Erkan Ozoral has stressed that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a problem not only for Azerbaijan, but also for Turkey.

"The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved soon. Turkey and Azerbaijan will continue to cooperate on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement", he told reporters on November 22.

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 soonest settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, of course, could lead to normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations, which have considerably deteriorated due to Armenia's so-called “genocide” claims against Turkey and occupation of Azerbaijani territories. That was the very reason due to which the Turkish-Armenian border is closed since early 1990s. Turkey has repeatedly stressed that the Ankara-Yerevan normalization of ties is impossible without the liberation of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

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.

The ambassador further stressed that Azerbaijan and Turkey provide the necessary support to each other in the fight against terrorism.

Turkey is grateful to Azerbaijan for its support in the fight against terrorism, the ambassador added.

Turkey became the first state to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan in 1991. The diplomatic relations were established on 14 January 1992 and the Consulate General in Baku was upgraded to Embassy level.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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