Azerbaijan will not give up the fight in the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh until Baku assumes control over the disputed region's entire territory, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th November, 2020) Azerbaijan will not give up the fight in the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh until Baku assumes control over the disputed region's entire territory, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday.
On Sunday, Baku announced the capture of Shusha, an important strategic target to the south of the region's capital of Stepanakert. Yerevan disputed that account, saying that fighting in the city was still ongoing. However, on Monday the leadership of Karabakh admitted that the breakaway republic was no longer in control of the city.
"Turkey has not remained silent and will not remain silent regarding the occupation of the Azerbaijani land. With the liberation of Shusha, our hopes have strengthened manyfold. The banner of the struggle will not be lowered until the entire Karabakh is liberated from the occupation, including the return of Kalbajar and Lachin to their real owners," Erdogan said at a Turkish ambassadors conference in Ankara.
The decades-long conflict in the region goes back to the final days of the Soviet Union when the Armenian population began clamoring for being transferred under Armenian jurisdiction, ushering the current crisis. As a result of the armed struggle in 1992-1994, Baku lost control of the breakaway republic and seven adjacent districts. There has been an attempt to broker a peaceful settlement of the conflict under the aegis of the OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States.
The most recent round of the crisis started on September 27 when Armenia and Azerbaijan both claimed the other side had engaged in provocation on the line of contact. As a vocal supporter of Baku's claim on Karabakh, Turkey declared it would provide Azerbaijan with any support it requires.
