Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
There are no and never will be any changes in Turkey's position towards Azerbaijan, Yasin Aktay, the member of the board of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, told Trend Nov. 17.
He was commenting on the lack of assessment from Turkish officials to the recent provocations of the Armenian armed forces near the contact line between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.
He said that despite the fact that the incident was not widely covered by the Turkish media, this cannot, in any way, affect the relations between the two countries.
An Armenian Mi-24 military helicopter flying 1700 meters northeast of the Kengerli village of Azerbaijan's Aghdam district attacked the Azerbaijani army positions on Nov. 12.
The helicopter was shot down by the Azerbaijani side.
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 two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by SI