Turkey wants speedy settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, says Foreign Ministry

Turkey wants speedy settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which will meet all the requirements of Azerbaijan, Basat Ozturk, director general for International Security Affairs at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, told Trend June 27.

“Turkey’s position in this issue is clear – we are always with Azerbaijan and it is absolute and real support,” said Ozturk adding that the conflict’s settlement will benefit the entire region.

He also noted the recent meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in St. Petersburg is a positive step.

St. Petersburg hosted a summit of Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian presidents, Ilham Aliyev, Vladimir Putin and Serzh Sargsyan with participation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs June 20.

Meanwhile, added Ozturk, Turkey advocates having good relations with all countries, including Russia.

“We want peace and development of relations with neighboring countries, but, of course, there should also be the will of the opposite side,” he said.

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.

/By Trend/