Turkey calls for end of Azerbaijani territories' occupation

By Sara Rajabova

Turkish Foreign Minister has said Turkey makes every effort to put an end to the occupation of territories of Azerbaijan.

"To this end, Ankara also tries to improve relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as Turkey and Armenia," Ahmet Davutoglu said.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.

Long-standing efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.

Besides, the Armenian armed forces have intensified the ceasefire breaches on the contact line of troops between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the beginning of 2014.

As a result of ceasefire breaches, several Azerbaijani soldiers were shot dead on the frontline.

OSCE Minsk Group's U.S. Co-chair, James Warlick voiced deep concern over the continued violence on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops.

"All sides should focus their efforts on reducing violence and rhetoric in order to improve the atmosphere for negotiations. Recent deaths and injuries show this is a dangerous conflict with no winner," Warlick toldTrend Agency on April 11.

He stressed that OSCE and all of its institutions support the co-chairs' efforts to help the sides to reach a peaceful settlement of this conflict.

Warlick added that the events in the region once again underscored the necessity of resolving the issue as soon as possible.

"The sides should take bold steps to advance the peace process - whether it is implementing confidence-building measures or people-to-people contacts and eliminating the use of force as an option once and for all," he said.

Warlick also stressed that the co-chairs stand ready to help by all means.

"The co-chairs and I are focused on helping the sides reach a fair and lasting settlement based on core principles of the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, and the elements outlined in our presidents' statements over the last five years. Our neutrality is vital to that process," he said.

Warlick went on to say that the co-chairs visit Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories on a regular basis and will continue to do so in future.

He added that these visits provide a unique opportunity to better understand the situation there.

Also touching upon the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents, Warlick said "the presidents agree on the need for further high-level talks, and we are working to help them reach an agreement on a time and place, but it's up to them."

"Their summit in Vienna last November was an important step for the peace process, and we look forward to following up soon on the substantive issues raised at that time," Warlick said.

Last time, the presidents met in Vienna on November 19, along with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, to assess the ways of resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

Source http://www.azernews.az/azerbaijan/66032.html