President: Azerbaijani territories’ occupation by Armenia won’t bring any positive results
By Gunay Hasanova
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reiterated that Turkey is against the occupation of part of the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan by Armenia.
Turkey is against the Azerbaijani territories’ occupation by Armenia, Erdogan told reporters on November 23, Aksam newspaper reported.
Erdogan said that the occupation won’t bring any positive results and Armenia must leave Azerbaijan’s occupied territories as soon as possible.
The Turkish president emphasized that the occupied territories of Azerbaijan must be returned to their rightful owners.
“Azerbaijanis are the rightful owners of these lands and they must return to their lands,” said Erdogan adding that the U.S., Russia, and France must fulfill their commitments soon.
Ankara closely supports 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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