Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

Turkey suggested the creation of tripartite mechanism on the discussion of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia. This was said by the Foreign Minister of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu, TRT Haber news channel reports.

Cavusoglu noted that trilateral format will be beneficial to all parties.

“We discussed this format during the meetings in Baku. Azerbaijan positively appraised the trilateral mechanism with Russia. This initiative was also announced during the meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia also praised the mechanism,” Turkish Foreign Minister said. He also noted that the three countries may cooperate in the political, economic, transport and energy sectors.

On August 9, President Erdogan also said that Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia may establish a tripartite cooperation mechanism, and that both Turkey and Russia have a positive attitude to the creation of this mechanism.

The Azerbaijan-Turkey-Russia trilateral format can be effective for settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, believes Turkish president’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin.

“If Armenia withdraws from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, the process will be accelerated,” Kalin said in his interview with A Haber TV channel.

He particularly mentioned that if the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolved, it will be more beneficial for Armenia, "which will be able to normalize relations with Turkey”.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, 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.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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