Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 19
Trend:
Armenia occupied Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Nov. 19 answering the question of the Armenian member of parliament Koryun Nahapetyan during the 62nd meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the Haber 7 newspaper reported.
“When we listen to you, it seems that you are angels,” said Cavusoglu. “I want to ask you a question: aren’t you, according to the UN resolutions, the invaders of 20 percent of the territory of Azerbaijan?
“I occupied Nagorno-Karabakh?! You occupied!” he said. “Why do you avoid answering this question? We made a proposal to you: stop the occupation and we will open the borders.”
“You asked why we don’t put terms for Azerbaijan. We are answering: Azerbaijan is our brother,” added the Turkish FM.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.