Mon 28 September 2020:
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sept. 28 called on Armenia to put an end to its occupation of Upper Karabakh, for peace to reign in the region again.
Speaking at the International Maritime Law and Eastern Mediterranean Symposium, Erdoğan said Azerbaijan has been the victim of violence for the past three decades, while the international community has stood by as Armenia kept attacking.
“I condemn Armenia once again for attacking Azerbaijani lands. It is about time to end the crisis that started with the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Erdoğan said.
He noted that peace will be restored in the region if Armenia halts attacks against Azerbaijan and leaves the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.
Erdoğan also accused Armenia of starting the latest escalation, also accusing the United States, Russia, and France of failing to properly address the conflict in so-called “Minsk Group” talks.
“They basically did everything they could not resolve the issue,” Erdoğan said. “Now Azerbaijan must take matters into its own hands.”
Turkish Support
Ankara reiterated its support to Azerbaijan in the face of Armenian aggression early Sunday, with many officials and the Turkish Foreign Ministry declaring unwavering backing to the brotherly Turkic nation.
Turkey has openly expressed support to Azerbaijan as it accuses Armenia of launching military offensive into residential areas in the region.
Armenia should send back all the mercenaries and terrorists it brought from abroad to fight against Azerbaijan, Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, reiterating Ankara’s support to Baku in its armed conflict with Yerevan.
“Armenia should cease its attacks immediately and send back the mercenaries and terrorists it brought from abroad,” Akar said, according to state-run Anadolu Agency on Sept. 28.
There are claims that Armenia has dispatched mercenaries from Syria into Nagorno-Karabakh to be used in fighting the Azerbaijani army.
“Armenia should withdraw from the Azerbaijan lands under its occupation. Ceasefire, peace and stability shall prevail accordingly, ” Akar said.
“Ties between Turkey and Azerbaijan are based on ‘two states one nation’ principle. We are always together in the good and bad day. We are on the side of our Azerbaijani brothers in their defense of homeland,” Akar stated.
The two former Soviet countries have long been in conflict over the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is under illegal Armenian occupation, and border clashes have intensified in recent months.
Ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh declared their independence during a conflict that broke out as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
Though a cease-fire was agreed on in 1994, Baku and Yerevan frequently accuse each other of attacks around Nagorno-Karabakh and along the separate Azerbaijani-Armenian frontier.
