* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)
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Turkey's Parliament passed the motion on deployment of troops in Azerbaijan in a vote at the General Assembly yesterday (November 17).
As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AKP), the government's plan to deploy troops has been approved by a majority of the MPs.
While the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the İYİ Party reportedly backed the motion, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) voted against the motion.
Presented by the AKP government, the motion foresees "the deployment of troops for peacekeeping in Upper Karabakh for one year."
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Relations between the two former Soviet republics, Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan, over Upper Karabakh have remained tense since 1991, however, fresh clashes broke out on September 27, 2020.
The conflicts between Azerbaijan and Armenia, two neighboring countries in the South Caucasus, ended after a Russia-brokered agreement on November 10, when President Vladimir Putin announced that Azerbaijan and Armenia had signed a deal to end the conflict in the region also known as Nagorno-Karabakh. The government of Turkey has also welcomed the truce, terming it a "great victory" for Azerbaijan.
According to what Turkey's state-run AA has reported, Turkey and Russia have since signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint Turkish-Russian center to monitor the Karabakh peace deal.
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About the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute
Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region of approximately 4,400 square kilometers in the Caucasus between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Relations between the two former Soviet countries have been tense since 1989 over Nagorno-Karabakh, or Upper Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan populated mostly by Armenians. In 1989, the parliament of Azerbaijan removed Nagorno-Karabakh's autonomous status, which had been in place since 1923. During the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Armenia began military operations into Nagorno-Karabakh in 1991. In the same year, the separatist administration in Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence. The Azeri people of the region had boycotted the independence referendum. The independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh, or Artsakh republic, is not recognized by any United Nations member state, including Armenia. Four United Nations (UN) Security Council and two UN General Assembly resolutions as well as many international organizations demand the withdrawal of the occupying forces. The OSCE Minsk Group – co-chaired by France, Russia and the US – was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. A cease-fire was agreed upon in 1994. France, Russia and NATO, among others, have urged an immediate halt to clashes in the occupied region. During the conflict between the years 1988-1994, about one million people were displaced and 30,000 were killed. |
(EKN/SD)
