Turkey reaffirms support on Garabagh conflict

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 20 2006

Baku, April 19, AssA-Irada — Turkey has reaffirmed its support for
Azerbaijan on the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.

“We will always stand by Azerbaijan. Official Ankara considers the
Armenian occupation of 20% of Azeri territories unacceptable and backs
a settlement to the dispute through peace and within the country’s
territorial integrity,” the visiting Turkish Interior Minister
Abdulkadir Aksu said in a meeting with his Azeri counterpart Ramil
Usubov on Wednesday.

Aksu said the secret services of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey should
step up their efforts in fighting terror, recalling a joint statement
signed by the three countries’ ministers in Trabzon. “It is time to
outline future plans by holding serious discussions.”

The two ministers discussed a number of issues relating to
Turkish-Azeri relations, the current status and prospects for
cooperation in joint combat against crime. They said the two countries
support each other’s sovereignty and concur of ways of fighting terror,
drug trafficking, illegal proliferation of weapons and other forms
of trans-national organized crime.

The ministers signed a protocol on cooperation in conclusion of
the meeting.*