Turkey supports Karabakh conflict settlement efforts corresponding to Baku’s interests

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 15 By Seba Aghayeva – Trend : Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said he discussed the political cooperation and security with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Baku. Mammadyarov made the remarks at a joint press conference with the Turkish FM July 15. He said the sides also discussed the ways to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. “I informed my colleague about the talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement,” Mammadyarov added. “As a leading country in the region and as an OSCE Minsk Group member, Turkey must be aware of the developments in the conflict’s settlement.” He stressed that the normalization of the Turkey-Russia relations will certainly have a positive impact on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement. Cavusoglu, for his part, said Turkey supports the recent efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. “We support all the conflict settlement efforts that correspond to Azerbaijan’s interests, and we hope the efforts will be successful and lead to the final settlement of the conflict,” he said. FM Mammadyarov speaking about the Azerbaijani serviceman, Lieutenant Togrul Mammadov, killed by an Armenian sniper on July 14 night, said the tragedy shows that it is necessary to further intensify the negotiation process. “It is necessary to intensify the conflict’s settlement to put an end to such incidents,” he stressed. “Soldiers must be withdrawn from the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops. We are ready to further work in this direction." In his turn, Cavusoglu stressed the need to avoid instigating actions on the line of contact. “As a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, Turkey will continue to make efforts for the conflict’s resolution,” said Cavusoglu. 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.