Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said today that Ankara has not proposed deploying peacekeepers to Nagorno Karabakh after the conflict's resolution, the Turkish Anadolu news agency said. He stressed that rumors about such a proposal are untrue.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the United States - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Davutoglu also stated that a plan must be created to ensure stability and security in the South Caucasus. However, Yerevan's refusal to participate in a Turkish project harms Armenia alone.
"Armenia is only harming itself by refusing to accept Turkish assistance," he said. "Stability in the Caucasus is in the interest of all the countries in the region."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "Caucasus Platform" initiative was proposed after the 2008 August events in Georgia.