Armenia should admit its fault, hopelessness – Turkish FM

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.25 By Seba Aghayeva – Trend: Armenia should admit its fault and hopelessness, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a briefing in Baku, following the negotiations with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov. “Turkey and Azerbaijan make every effort to ensure the region’s prosperity and development, however, Armenia still remains outside of these projects,” Cavusoglu said. “If Armenia backs down from its aggressive position, withdraws from Azerbaijan’s occupied territories, we will be ready to see this country in our joint projects,” Cavusoglu added. Talking about the negotiation process on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Elmar Mammadyarov, for this part, said that Baku continues to urge Armenia to withdraw from Azerbaijan’s occupied territories and start working on the great peace agreement. Azerbaijan demands from the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to promote the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijani lands, Mammadyarov said, adding that the international law also requires this. 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 two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions. Edited by SI --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Asebaa Follow us on Twitter @TRENDNewsAgency