TURKEY’S EX-FM SAYS NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT THREATS REGIONAL PEACE
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
April 30 2014
30 April 2014, 15:44 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova
The greatest threat to peace and stability in the Caucasus is the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, former Turkish Foreign Minister Hikmet
Cetin has said.
Cetin made remarks on April 29 during the session on the theme “Open
societies as a method of conflict resolution in difficult situations”
of the second Global Shared Societies Forum held in Baku.
Cetin noted that the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding
districts were occupied by Armenia and more than one million people
lost their homes.
He said the OSCE Minsk Group has dealt with resolving this conflict
for more than 20 years, but there are no results.
The time has come for concrete steps to resolve the conflict, Cetin
emphasized.
“First of all, Armenia should withdraw its troops from surrounding
Nagorno-Karabakh regions, it would be an important step in resolving
the conflict,” Cetin said.
Cetin also noted that such a situation cannot be maintained for a long.
“Addressing the Armenian leaders, I want to tell them to think again
about it, since it is known that the social and economic situation
in Armenia is very bad,” he said.
Cetin further said Armenia can participate in a number of projects
in the region, and it is only just needed to liberate the Azerbaijani
lands.
The precarious cease-fire between Azerbaijan and Armenia was reached
after a lengthy war that displaced over a million Azerbaijanis and
has been in place between the two South Caucasus countries since 1994.
Since the hostilities, Armenian armed forces have occupied over
20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenia’s
withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been
enforced to this day.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Disclaimer: This article was contributed and translated into English by Emil Lazarian. While we strive for quality, the views and accuracy of the content remain the responsibility of the contributor. Please verify all facts independently before reposting or citing.
Direct link to this article: https://www.armenianclub.com/2014/05/03/baku-turkeys-ex-fm-says-nagorno-karabakh-conflict-threats-regional/
