* Photos: Anadolu Agency (AA)
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In a surprise visit to Azerbaijan amid the country's ongoing clashes with Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region yesterday (October 6), Turkey's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was first received by President İlham Aliyev in Baku, the capital city of the country.
Çavuşoğlu then met Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov. They addressed the reporters in a press conference afterwards.
As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), Çavuşoğlu said that Armenia's attacks on civilian settlements in Azerbaijan are not only a "crime against humanity" but also "a sign of the desperation" on its part.
"We will support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, just as we did with Georgia, Ukraine, Syria, and Iraq's territorial integrity," he has noted.
'It is a violation of the Geneva Convention'
Commenting on Armenian attacks against civilian settlements, Çavuşoğlu has said these are "a violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention."
Çavuşoğlu has stated that "approaching Azerbaijan and Armenia on equal terms means rewarding the occupier", stressing that the world should instead side with "rightful Azerbaijan and international law."
He has also criticized a recent statement by the co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, saying that "they have once again placed victimized Azerbaijan in the same group as Armenia, which is the occupying country."
"For the first time, at the governmental level, the Minsk trio, at the co-chair level, issued a statement... But it's no different than the statements that the representatives, ambassadors made previously," he has said.
Çavuşoğlu has added that the Minsk group is "putting victimized Azerbaijan in the same basket with occupier Armenia. The whole world must understand that it won't work like this, it can't go on like this. Of course, up to now we have supported every effort to solve this problem peacefully."
* Turkey's FM Çavuşoğlu with Azerbaijan's President Aliyev
'We will always side with Azerbaijan'
Reiterating "Turkey and the Turkish people's support" to Azerbaijan in the conflict against Armenia, he has said that his visit is Turkey's way to show solidarity with Azerbaijan and its people.
"We will always side with our sister nation Azerbaijan. We will stand with you in grief and joy, today and tomorrow," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said, stressing, "Once again, I want to say strongly to the entire world that Upper Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan."
Underscoring that the occupied territories of Upper Karabakh – also known as Nagorno-Karabakh – and Azerbaijan have not been liberated, despite all resolutions, he has said, "The international community to date has taken no concrete steps for the withdrawal of Armenia."
"United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions 822, 874 and 884 were not implemented. Likewise, the OSCE decisions were not implemented. More than 1 million of our escaped and displaced brothers and sisters are waiting to return to their homes," he has noted and added, "Despite all this, it was always Armenia that attacked."
Telling how Armenian forces first attacked Tovuz, and then the civilians at the line of contact and the "valiant Azerbaijani army," he has said, "As a result, Azerbaijan had to take matters into its own hands."
"Armenia, cornered Armenia, began to attack civilians in civilian settlements. They are attacking Ganja, Tartar, Mingachevir, Khizi and Absehron. This is a crime against humanity, a war crime, a violation of the Geneva Convention. In fact, this is a sign of the desperation Armenia has fallen into."
Calling on the international community to also support Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, he has stressed that Turkey's "sister nation Azerbaijan is showing that there cannot be, should not be any double standards of this matter either in the field or in negotiations."
'Armenia has a terrorist mentality'
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Bayramov has also criticized Armenia, saying it has "a terrorist mentality" with no scruples over achieving its goals.
"The illegal presence of the Armenian army in Azerbaijani territory is the greatest threat and danger to both Azerbaijan and the region," he has said.
Saying that the "Armenian side has been targeting civilians since the clashes began", Bayramov said, "According to the information received as of this morning, we have 27 civilian casualties and 143 injured."
"This is not a new tactic. Armenia also used this tactic in the 1990s. Their aim is to spread panic among civilians to achieve their goals," he has added. He has noted that "Armenia has no red lines" but "our red line is the withdrawal of the Armenian military forces from our country." (PT/SD)
