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Turkey welcomes liberation of Azerbaijan's Aghdam district from occupation - government

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Materials 20 November 2020 09:33 (UTC +04:00)
Turkey welcomes liberation of Azerbaijan's Aghdam district from occupation - government

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov.20

Trend:

Turkey welcomes the liberation of the Aghdam district of Azerbaijan from the Armenian occupation, the Turkish government told Trend.

According to the government, the district’s liberation is a significant event not only for Azerbaijan but also for Turkey.

"We congratulate the Azerbaijani people on the liberation of Aghdam, which for many years was under the occupation of Armenia. Turkey is closely following the process of withdrawing the occupying forces from the territories of Azerbaijan," the government said.

In accordance with a joint statement on the matter made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia on Nov.9, 2020, the forces of the Azerbaijani army entered the Aghdam district.

The district’s most part (77.4 percent) had been kept under Armenian control since July 23, 1993, when the armed forces of Armenia occupied it as a result of military aggression which continued from 1988 until May 12, 1994. In the bloody battles for Aghdam 5,897 people became martyrs, 3,531 people became disabled, 1,871 children lost their parents and more than 126,000 residents of the district were forced to leave their homes.

There are many architectural and cultural monuments with ancient history in Aghdam. Among them a mausoleum dating back to the XIX century, Khanoglu Mausoleum, Panah Khan's Mausoleum, Panah Khan’s mansion, two chest-shape monuments, Sardaba and Khatem Malik’s fortress of XV century, Juma Mosque, and the Mosque of Shahbulag.

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, the 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.

In 2020, the military confrontation between the occupying Armenian forces and Azerbaijan has intensified. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces.

Further, the Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.

Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia.

A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were introduced at 00:00 hours (Moscow time) on 10 November 2020.

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