TURKISH PM CALLED TO LIBERATE OCCUPIED AZERBAIJANI LANDS

Trend
Jan 13 2010
Azerbaijan

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the immediate
return of the occupied Azerbaijani lands, the Turkish agency Anadolu
reported.

"The occupied Azerbaijani territories must be liberated," he said at
the Moscow State University. "Armenia and Azerbaijan should establish
long-term peace."

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. General Assembly’s resolutions
on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied
territories.