BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 28
Trend:
Turkey is fully determined to defend the interests of Azerbaijan to the end, regardless of the threat, be it Armenia, Russia or any other country, Press Secretary of the Turkish president Ibrahim Kalin said, Trend reports citing the Turkish media.
Kalin said that Ankara supports diplomatic efforts to resolve differences in the South Caucasus and at the same time strengthens defense cooperation with Baku.
Touching upon the recent Russian-Armenian exercises, Kalin noted that Baku and Ankara also planned large-scale exercises to be held in the coming days. "The exercises with Azerbaijan were planned earlier and are part of the defense cooperation of the two countries," he added.
The press secretary of the Turkish leader noted that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally brought Turkey's position on the situation in the South Caucasus to the attention of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We are on the side of Azerbaijan. The unity, integrity and security of Azerbaijan is tantamount to the unity and security of Turkey. There cannot be the slightest doubt about this. Erdogan said this openly to Putin in a telephone conversation. The head of the Turkish state called on his Russian counterpart to use leverage over Yerevan in order to reduce tension in the region,” Kalin said.