“We are very concerned about the escalation of hostilities. All parties must immediately stop fighting and find a peaceful solution, and I expect Turkey to use its significant influence to reduce tensions,” Stoltennberg told a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlit Chavushoglu.
Earlier, Turkish President Regepi Taipa Erdogan urged Baku to continue the war until the territories lost in the early 1990s were recovered.
Chavushoglu, for his part, said that NATO should treat the conflict “in a balanced way”.
“Everyone, especially NATO, should call for the withdrawal of Armenia [savu karaspēku no ieņemtajām Azerbaidžānas teritorijām]”In order to find a solution to this problem in accordance with international law,” the Turkish Foreign Minister emphasized.
There have been hostile relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia since the 1990s, when there was a war over Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian population.
Nagorno-Karabakh, which was part of the Azerbaijani SSR during the Soviet era, has been a “de facto” independent Armenian republic since the early 1990s. Although Azerbaijan has not controlled Nagorno-Karabakh since the collapse of the USSR, it considers the Armenian region to be its territory. Nagorno-Karabakh is also considered by the international community to be part of Azerbaijan, and no country has recognized the region as an independent state.
Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence in 1991. Its secession from Azerbaijan contributed to the outbreak of war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. About 35,000 people lost their lives in the war, and more than a million people in both countries were forced to flee their homes.
As reported, on September 27, heavy fighting with Azerbaijani forces began on the de facto border of Nagorno-Karabakh. Both sides accuse each other of starting war. Azerbaijani forces are reportedly being assisted by Turkish armed forces officers and Turkish-organized Syrian militants.
