Turkey desires normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani ties
By Sara Rajabova
Turkey voiced desire for the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said one of Ankara's desires and goals is to normalize the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, Turkish news agency Ikhlas reported.
According to Davutoglu, Ankara is ready to do everything possible to normalize relations between the two countries and restore stability in the South Caucasus.
Davutoglu earlier discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh issue with U.S. State Secretary John Kerry during his visit to Washington.
He said that Turkey and the U.S. have the same opinions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsian met in Vienna on November 19 to mull Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Igor Popov of Russia, Jacques Faure of France, and James Warlick of the United States said in a statement following the talks that during their private one-on-one meeting and the working session afterward with the co-chairs and the Ministers, the Presidents discussed a broad range of issues related to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia will meet in Kiev during the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting on December 5-6 to mull the settlement of the conflict.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. Armenia continues the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.
Peace talks brokered by mediators from Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.