Turkey pledges support for stability of region on first anniversary of Karabakh war

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Sept. 27 reiterated Turkey's support to Azerbaijan and called on parties for normalization process in the region on the first anniversary of the Karabakh war.

"We want Karabakh to be remembered for peace and development rather than instability and conflict. The region should now enter the normalization process. There are now new opportunities for regional cooperation and prosperity," he said, speaking at the Extraordinary Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Turkic Council.

When asked if there is a planned meeting with his Armenian counterpart to make efforts for normalization in the region, Çavuşoğlu said there was no scheduled meeting at the moment.

Reminding that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gave some positive messages after the election, Çavuşoğlu said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed positive remarks afterward.

"Our greatest desire since the beginning is that after the war is over, the region turns into a place of peace and stability. In this direction, as you know, Azerbaijan has offered to sign a comprehensive peace agreement with Armenia. There has yet to be a positive response from Armenia. But in the next period, as always, we will coordinate the steps we can take together with dear Azerbaijan. We decide together; we take steps together," he stated.

Speaking at the event, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said that Sept. 27 marks the beginning of an end to the Armenian occupation in Upper Karabakh.

"The unity of the Azerbaijani people, army and the chief commander on the battlefield for 44 days showed that status quo had to change," he said.

The latest big-scale clashes in Karabakh erupted last September when the Armenian army...