Baku, Azerbaijan, August 12
Trend:
Azerbaijan has every right to conduct the political struggle and military actions in order to return the occupied territories, Turkish Minister for European Union Affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday, Turkish TRT Haber TV channel reported Aug.11.
According to him, Turkey will always support Azerbaijan.
"Turkey supports peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but Azerbaijan's right to return the occupied lands both by political and military means is inalienable," - the Minister said.
He also added that the OSCE Minsk Group should be more active to resolve the conflict.
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 U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four U.N. Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.