Baku, Azerbaijan, April 26
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
Turkey fully supports Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkish foreign minister, told reporters in Baku April 26.
Cavusoglu said that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved by diplomatic means as part of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.
The Turkish minister stressed that the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group are greatly responsible for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"If the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk group want, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be resolved in the near future," Cavusoglu said.
The Turkish minister said that Armenia does not want the conflict to be resolved through political means.
Cavusoglu added that therefore, Armenia aggravates the situation on the line of contact of the troops.
"While announcing the ceasefire regime unilaterally, Azerbaijan once again proved to the world that the country stands for peaceful settlement of the conflict," Cavusoglu said.
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.
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.