Transcaucasia

Turkey on Dec. 18 rejected the resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh adopted by the lower house of Belgian Parliament. 

Responding to a question in writing, the Spokesperson of Turkish Foreign Ministry Hami Aksoy said the resolution 1597 related to Nagorno-Karabakh adopted by Belgium's House of Representative is neither historical nor compatible with facts.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed that Turkey and Azerbaijan will continue to cooperate to develop the liberated lands of Nagorno-Karabakh, as he attended Azerbaijan's military victory parade on Dec. 10.

The Turkish president on Dec. 5 termed a French parliament resolution on Upper Karabakh a "complete disaster."

"The decision taken the previous day in the parliament of France, the co-chair of the [OSCE] Minsk Group, is a complete disaster beyond the scandal," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at the opening ceremony of a newly built motorway in eastern Turkey via video link.

A Turkish-Russian joint center in Nagorno-Karabakh which will monitor the cease-fire deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia is under construction, according to Turkey's defense minister on Dec. 2. 

During the 44 days of the war in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan - Nagorno-Karabakh - and surrounding regions, we observed black propaganda against Azerbaijan in the international media. There was a biased approach to the conflict thanks to the false information about the historical facts and the whole conflict deliberately spread by Armenians.

Turkey has said it will continue to stand with Azerbaijan in its ongoing dispute with Armenia, calling the latter to cease disruptive and destabilizing policies in the south Caucasus.

From the first hours of the border closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, Azerbaijan has taken "all possible measures" to help its citizens in Turkey, including those who wanted to return, the country's envoy to Ankara told Anadolu Agency.

Georgian authorities, in cooperation with US anti-trafficking authorities, busted an organized criminal group. 40 kg of heroin was seized, Russian and Georgian media reported, quoted by BNR.

According to the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the action was carried out for two months, two Bulgarian citizens were detained.

Turkey on March 30 called Armenia's attempt to hold elections in the occupied Upper Karabakh region "a flagrant violation of international law."

A deputy from the People's Democratic Party (HDP) on Feb. 25 called for peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. 

Paylan, himself being of Armenian descent, proposed to establish "justice and reality commissions" related to "disasters" between the two countries.