Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev (left) embraces his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The foreign ministries of Armenia and Artsakh on Monday condemned Turkey’s unconditional support for Azerbaijan after its forces brazenly attacked military and civilian positions in Armenia’s Tavush Province on Sunday.
The Turkish foreign ministry issued a statement on Sunday voicing unequivocal support to Baku and decrying what it called “yet another manifestation of Armenia’s aggressive nationalism.”
“Turkey will continue, with all its capacity, to stand by Azerbaijan in its struggle to protect its territorial integrity,” said the Turkish foreign ministry statement.
“On July 12, the Foreign Ministry of Turkey issued a statement, in which the it not only expressed its unconditional support to Azerbaijan, and, in fact, justified the use of force by Azerbaijan on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, but also disseminated utterly false and misleading information,” said a statement issued by Armenia’s Foreign Ministry.
“This provocation by Turkey and its groundless accusations against Armenia attest to the fact that this country [Turkey] has not been acting as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, but as a party involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This fact makes it even more impossible for Turkey to play any role in the issues related to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, within international, and particularly the OSCE framework,” added Armenia’s foreign ministry adding that Turkey’s attempts to intervene in conflicts in its neighboring countries has already undermined the security and stability the region.
“We strongly condemn Turkey’s attempts to instigate instability in our region, and affirm that Armenia will continue to consistently work toward maintaining and strengthening international and regional security, while closely cooperating with international partners to this end,” concluded the Armenian foreign ministry statement.
Official Stepanakert also echoed Yerevan’s concerns about Turkey’s membership in the OSCE Minsk Group and condemned Ankara and Baku for destabilizing regional security.
The Artsakh Foreign Ministry issued a statement Monday strongly condemning what it called “the gross violation of the ceasefire by Azerbaijan on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the Tavush region of the Republic of Armenia, followed by a targeted escalation of tensions.”
”The attack on the Armenian positions by the Azerbaijani army with the employment of heavy equipment, as well as the mortar shelling of the border villages of Armenia pose a direct threat to regional security and stability. We reiterate that the distorted notions advance by Azerbaijan’s leadership of the supremacy of military force over international is a source of constant threats and a serious destabilizing factor in the South Caucasus,” added the Artsakh foreign ministry.
“We resolutely reject any attempt to encourage Baku’s neglect of its international obligations. In this regard, we consider the statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry in support of the provocations and violations of the ceasefire regime by Azerbaijan unacceptable. We emphasize once again that such a position by Turkey makes its membership in the OSCE Minsk Group senseless,” explained the foreign ministry.
“We urge the international community and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs to give a proper assessment of both the actions of Azerbaijan on destabilizing the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the encouragement of these steps by Ankara,’’ concluded the Artsakh foreign ministry statement.