Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Armenia today, Thursday, to stop violating the ceasefire agreement in the Azerbaijani Nagorno Karabakh region, days after Baku announced an Armenian violation of the agreement in force for weeks.
"I advise the Armenian forces to quickly back off the mistake of carrying out activities that violate the ceasefire, at a time when the smoke of weapons has dissipated," he said in a speech to Turkish soldiers working in Azerbaijan to monitor the agreement brokered by Russia.
Erdogan added that his country supports the Azerbaijani struggle within the framework of the "one people in two countries" association, which links Turkey with Azerbaijan, as he put it.
The president pledged that Turkey would support Azerbaijan’s struggle on the ground and in all international forums, saying that it was on its way to crowning its military victory with diplomatic success.
Erdogan wished success to his soldiers in Azerbaijan, expressing his hope that the Turkish-Russian Center for Monitoring the Ceasefire in Karabakh would start its activities as soon as possible.
Last Monday, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced that one of its soldiers was killed and another was wounded in an Armenian attack in the Agdam area in Karabakh, and confirmed that the attackers were killed, while the Armenian authorities denied that an attack had occurred.
Akar with Turkish soldiers in the Azerbaijani capital Baku (Anatolia)
In preparation for the mission, for
his part, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the Turkish forces are ready to carry out their duties in this center, which Moscow and Ankara signed an agreement to establish in early December.
Akar added - in a speech to his soldiers in the Azerbaijani capital - that his country will intensify its efforts in defending the "rights of its Azerbaijani brothers" with the opening of the joint monitoring center, noting that the Turkish soldiers are ready to carry out their duties.
During his visit to Baku, the Turkish Defense Minister met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Erdogan visited Baku about 10 days ago and met Aliyev, and he also attended a military parade organized by Azerbaijan to celebrate its victory over Armenia and its restoration of most of the lands that it lost in a war during the 1990s.
The last war broke out in the Nagorno Karabakh region on September 27 and lasted 44 days, in which about 3 thousand soldiers were killed from both sides.
Under the pressure of military defeats, Armenia was forced to accept a ceasefire, and withdrew its forces from most of Karabakh and 4 provinces located around it, while Russia deployed a peace-keeping force in the region that includes 2,000 soldiers.