DM Monitoring
ANKARA: The occupation of 20 percent of the territories of Azerbaijan about 30 years ago, accompanied by a massacre, wounded the heart not only of Azerbaijani brothers but also of Turkey, the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the 7th Congress of the ruling Justice and Development Party, local media reported on Wednesday.
According to Erdogan, the OSCE Minsk Group under the co-chairmanship of the three countries (US, Russia and France) has further confused the situation, although it has undertaken to resolve the conflict.
“During all the past period, Azerbaijan tried to resolve the conflict peacefully. In the last months of 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces attacked Azerbaijan again. Turkey stood next to the Azerbaijani brothers with all its capabilities. Thanks to the support of Turkey and the heroism of the Azerbaijani army, this occupation was ended” he noted.
“We’ll continue to closely monitor the process in order to complete this stage in the context of the implementation of the signed agreements, which will further strengthen the brotherhood of Turkey and Azerbaijan,” added the president.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
During the war, on Feb. 25-26, 1992, the Armenian Armed Forces committed an act of genocide (massacre) against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly (many hundred civil residents, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 old people were killed in the massacre, 1,000 people were injured). The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.
Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia’s PM, and the president of Russia.
A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were introduced on Nov. 10, 2020.
Following Azerbaijan’s liberation of its lands from Armenian occupation, an agreement was reached to establish a center in the liberated Aghdam district to monitor compliance with the ceasefire agreement. The monitoring is carried out by representatives of Turkey and Russia.
