Turkey could aid Azerbaijan if war erupts, its official says
BAKU – Turkey could provide military aid to Azerbaijan if a war with neighboring Armenia erupts, head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s think-tank, SAM, said on a visit to Baku on Monday.
"Turkey does want an armed conflict in the region. But if war erupts over Nagorno Karabakh, Turkish military assistance is not ruled out," Bulent Aras told reporters.
The Azerbaijani and Turkish governments have signed a cooperation agreement on financing the military.
On Sunday, Aras visited Azerbaijan’s frontline Aghdam region, two-thirds of which is under Armenian occupation, where he met with local residents and Azerbaijani soldiers.
20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno Karabakh, has been under Armenian occupation since the two South Caucasus republics signed a precarious cease-fire in 1994 following a lengthy war. Up to a million Azerbaijanis were displaced in the war that claimed some 30,000 lives. Over a decade of efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.
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