Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu attends a joint news conference with Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov, Monday, Sept. 27, 2021. (AA Photo)
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Turkey would coordinate all steps that would be taken in terms of reestablishing relations with Armenia amid positive statements in that regard, but no meeting has been scheduled with his Armenian counterpart.
Speaking at a joint news conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov, Çavuşoğlu said Turkey wants peace and stability to prevail in the region after the war. He noted that Azerbaijan has proposed a comprehensive peace agreement with Armenia, but the latter has not responded positively to the request.
Ankara has pledged its full support to Baku in its efforts to liberate its lands from Armenian occupation.
Çavuşoğlu noted that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Ilham Aliyev hold talks on the phone as "two presidents and two brothers" on a regular basis but no special instructions have been given for a meeting soon.
Relations between the two former Soviet republics over Nagorno-Karabakh have remained tense since 1991, but fresh clashes broke out on Sept. 27. Since then, Armenia has repeatedly attacked Azerbaijani civilians and forces, even violating three humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
About 20% of Azerbaijan's territory has been under illegal Armenian occupation for nearly three decades. Azerbaijan says that since Sept. 27, it has retaken much of the land in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave that it lost in a 1991-1994 war that killed an estimated 30,000 people and forced many more from their homes.
Armenia has denied the extent of Azerbaijan's territorial gains.
Turkey believes that permanent peace is possible through mutual security-based cooperation among the states and people of the South Caucasus region. Turkey had called for a six-nation platform comprising Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia for permanent peace, stability and cooperation in the region.
Last week, Pashinian's spokesperson Mane Gevorgyan said his country is ready to engage in high-level dialogue with Turkey. She noted that Yerevan was ready to establish the highest-level dialogue with Ankara and eliminate obstacles on the transit corridor that would have to go through Armenia to connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan enclave that borders Turkey and Iran.