Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

It is time to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – this problem must be solved, and justice for Azerbaijan must be restored, Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Erkan Ozoral said on December 23.

He made the remarks at the international symposium “The future of the region: Geopolitical challenges and perspectives” in Baku, APA reports.

Ozoral noted that Azerbaijan has been suffering a great injustice for a long time: “Armenia occupied Azerbaijani lands, and as a result more than 1 million people became refugees and internally displaced people.”

The envoy added that Turkey has always supported and will support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

Turkey has always been contributing to efforts aimed at the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty through peaceful means.

Ankara has repeatedly stated that the OSCE Minsk Group needs to intensify the search for solutions to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and offered its assistance in this matter.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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