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Turkish president: Azerbaijan’s occupied lands must be liberated (UPDATE)

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Materials 23 December 2010 19:26 (UTC +04:00)
Azerbaijan's lands must be liberated from the Armenian occupation, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said at the press conference in Istanbul, the CNN Turk TV channel reported.
Turkish president: Azerbaijan’s occupied lands must be liberated (UPDATE)

Editor's note: updated after first paragraph

Azerbaijan's lands must be liberated from the Armenian occupation, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said at the press conference in Istanbul, the CNN Turk TV channel reported.

"Firstly Azerbaijan's lands must be liberated from the occupation and Azerbaijani refugees must return to their mother lands in order to resolve the problems in Caucasus," Gul said.

Gul also said that Turkey wants relations to be good with all neighbors.

"Armenia is also Turkey's neighbor, and therefore, significant steps have been taken to normalize relations with Armenia," the President said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

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