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OSCE Minsk Group gets thumbs down from Ankara

23 April 2015 11:36 (UTC+04:00)
OSCE Minsk Group gets thumbs down from Ankara

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Turkey considers the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to be impotent in its efforts to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The group's fruitless brokering involvement so far got a thumb down from the Turkish president.

In a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart in Ankara on April 22, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the OSCE Minsk Group cannot resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group meet every year, but no result has been achieved to date," Erdogan said.

He added that the conflict is still far from finding a happy ending despite the fact that the international community supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Turkey - closest ally of Azerbaijan - backs the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through peace within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Top level addresses from Ankara have called for both Baku and Yerevan to align themselves with peace negotiations. To kick off firm peace talks, Yerevan should first withdraw its troops from the occupied Azerbaijani lands, believe Turkey's rulers.

Turkey's option for peace and stability in the South Caucasus region was once more sounded in Davutoglu's address.

Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu once more underscored the importance of Armenia's pullout from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

In his comments to CNN Turk on April 22, Davutoglu said Armenia's continuation of the occupation of Azerbaijani lands was unacceptable.

Turkey supports an irreversible approach in its foreign policy agenda in regard to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. It has made clear it wants Armenia to immediately and unconditionally leave the occupied lands in view of restoring Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders.

Ankara unequivocally refuses to open its borders with Yerevan until the latter pull its troops out of Azerbaijan's occupied lands. Davutoglu believes that Armenian troop's withdrawal from at least one Azerbaijani district can come as a condition to revive Turkish-Armenian protocols.

Azerbaijan's internationally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh territory was turned into a battlefield and zone of aggravated tensions after Armenia sent its troops to occupy Azerbaijan's lands in the early 1990s. As a result, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory stands under military occupation of Armenia.

For the past two decades, and despite calls from the international community, Armenia has refused to withdraw its troops and retreat within its national borders.

Baku's diligence in view of settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is well seen in the international arena, however it is yet to receive relevant feedbacks from Yerevan.

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Follow Mushvig Mehdiyev on Twitter: @Mushviggo

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