Turkey wants peace in South Caucasus

/By AzerNews - Mushvig Mehdiyev/

Turkey has periodically reaffirmed that conflicts in the South Caucasus, most especially the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have been a constant source of worry for Ankara as it seeks to promote peace in the region.

Ankara promised to intensify its efforts in view of resolving all matters of contentions and tensions in the South Caucasus.

Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu said the resolution of conflicts in the neighboring South Caucasus region is of particular importance for Turkey.

"Turkey will keep on exerting its efforts to resolve conflicts in the South Caucasus," Davutoglu said.

Turkey backs the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through peace within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Top level addresses from Ankara have called for both Baku and Yerevan to align themselves with peace negotiations. To kick off firm peace talks, Yerevan should first withdraw its troops from the occupied Azerbaijani lands, believe Turkey's rulers.

Commenting on worldwide conflicts, Davutoglu said Ankara is also trying to help resolve military conflicts in neighboring Arab countries.

Meanwhile, Turkey's former President Abdullah Gul followed on Davutoglu's footprints when he called the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia a "serious problem in the South Caucasus".

"It is regrettable that Armenia continues occupying historical Azerbaijani lands," he said.

Turkey supports an irreversible approach in its foreign policy agenda in regard to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. It has made clear it wants Armenia to immediately and unconditionally leave the region in view of restoring Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders.

Turkey unequivocally refuses to open its borders with Armenia until the latter withdraw from Azerbaijan's occupied lands. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has put Armenian troop's withdrawal from at least one Azerbaijani district as a condition to revive Turkish-Armenian protocols.

Ankara has also officially condemned the upcoming so-called "parliamentary elections" which are set to be held in Nagorno-Karabakh, calling it a move in defiance of Azerbaijan's rights and international law.

Azerbaijan's internationally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh territory was turned into a battlefield and zone of aggravated tensions after Armenia sent its troops to occupy Azerbaijan's lands in the early 1990s. As a result, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory stands under military occupation of Armenia.

For the past two decades, and despite calls from the international community, Armenia has refused to withdraw its troops and retreat within its national borders.

Baku's diligence in view of settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is well seen in the international arena, however it is yet to receive relevant feedbacks from Yerevan.