DM Monitoring
ANKARA: The Turkish Presidency on Monday submitted a motion to Parliament on deploying troops to Azerbaijan for one year after Baku signed a cease-fire agreement with Armenia.
The motion, signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, noted that brotherly country Azerbaijan struggled to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation for years.
It added that Baku made significant gains in a recent military operation in retaliation to Armenia’s attacks on Azerbaijani military targets and civilians settlements.
The motion underlined that Turkey has been supporting Azerbaijan to protect its rights and territorial unity, in line with international law and legitimate sovereignty rights, since the beginning of the process. It stated that Azerbaijan’s recent advancement has created a new reality on the ground.
The motion reminded that a cease-fire agreement between Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia was reached on Nov. 10 and some territories under the Armenian occupation were scheduled to be handed over to Azerbaijan.
It also said the establishment of a “Joint Center” in the Azerbaijani territories to observe the cease-fire was agreed on. Turkey and Russia will jointly take part in this center as per Azerbaijan’s request.
The deployment “will be for the benefit and welfare of the people in the region,” the motion said, adding the move will also be in Turkey’s national interests.
The motion will be voted on in the parliament on Tuesday.
Relations between two the former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory recognized as part of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent regions.
Fresh clashes erupted on Sept. 27 and the Armenian army continued its attacks on civilian and Azerbaijani forces, even violating humanitarian cease-fire agreements for 44 days.
Baku liberated several cities and nearly 300 of its settlements and villages from Armenian occupation during this time. Before the second Nagorno-Karabakh war, about 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory had been under illegal Armenian occupation for nearly three decades.
