By Rashid Shirinov

Since the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the late 1980s, Turkey has been the country that provided the strongest support for Azerbaijan in its attempts to restore justice and to return the Armenia-occupied Azerbaijani lands by peaceful means.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again voiced full support for Azerbaijan in this issue during Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s official visit to Turkey last week.

“The issue of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a national issue for Turkey… We want an immediate settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of Azerbaijan,” Erdogan stated.

In her recent interview with Day.Az, Turkish political expert Ayshe Celik noted that Erdogan’s statement was a direct message to the international community about the unity of views and priorities of Azerbaijan and Turkey.

“For Turkey, the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem given the inviolability of the Azerbaijani borders is of fundamental importance. Erdogan has noted that this issue should find a fair and objective solution, based on the requirements specified in the adopted resolutions of the UN Security Council and documents of other international organizations in accordance with the principles of international law,” Celik noted.

She added that the theses voiced by Erdogan have once again confirmed the position of Turkey in this priority issue for Azerbaijan, as well as the intention of the Turkish government to continue insisting on the return of the Azerbaijani territories.

Speaking of the 7th Session of the Azerbaijan-Turkey High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Ankara, headed by Erdogan and Aliyev last week, Celik noted that it is another important platform for discussing pressing issues of international importance.

“Such meetings are of great importance, especially in the context of the geopolitical situation in the region and the world. Azerbaijan and Turkey are important strategic partners, the closest allies who pursue a purposeful policy of good-neighborliness and security in the region and the world,” she said.

However, the occupation policy of Armenia, which has been continuing against Azerbaijan for more than 25 years, as well as Armenia’s territorial claims against its other neighbors, has always been the main threat to security in the region.

The Armenian leadership should bear in mind that Azerbaijan and Turkey will never give up their attempts to ensure full safety in the region, and the fair settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the fundamental condition to achieve this goal.

The conflict began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region 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. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Until now, Armenia controls fifth part of Azerbaijan’s territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.

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

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