Turkey strongly condemns Armenia’s breach of ceasefire

ANKARA

Turkey has strongly condemned the Armenian forces’ violation of a ceasefire by attacking the civilian settlements in the Ganja province of Azerbaijan and has called on the international community to speak up Yerevan’s aggression.

“We strongly condemn Armenia’s rocket attack towards morning against Azerbaijan’s second-largest town of Ganja by violating the humanitarian ceasefire,” read a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Oct. 11.

Recalling that Ganja is around 100 kilometers away from the conflict area, the ministry described this assault that left nine people dead and 39 wounded as a new example of Armenian provocations to spread the clashes outside the occupied areas of Azerbaijan.

“This assault, at the same time, shows that Armenia sees no harm in breaching the humanitarian ceasefire for the continuation of its unlawful occupation and that it has no sense for ceasefire language,” it stated.

The international community should speak up about Armenia’s violation of the international human rights, the ministry said, reiterating Ankara’s continued support to Baku.

The Defense Ministry also slammed Armenian attacks against civilian settlements over the weekend after the ceasefire.

“Committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, Armenia now violates the ceasefire. Even in a ceasefire, Armenia continues to assault civilian settlements. International public opinion should speak up against Armenia,” read the ministry statement on Twitter.

Çavuşoğlu spoke with Lavrov

In the meantime, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu had talked with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over the phone to express Turkey’s concerns about the Armenian breaches of the ceasefire. Çavuşoğlu called on Lavrov to urge the Armenian government to stick to the ceasefire and not to attack the Azerbaijani lands, particularly the civilian settlements, the diplomatic sources said.

This was a second phone conversation between the two foreign ministers since Russia brokered a humanitarian ceasefire between the warring sides, Armenia and Azerbaijan, on Oct. 10. Çavuşoğlu also discussed the developments with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.

In a written statement by the Foreign Ministry on Oct. 10, Turkey said the only solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the full withdrawal of the Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani lands.

“The ceasefire, which was declared on humanitarian grounds for the exchange of prisoners of war and bodies, is an important first step but cannot replace a lasting solution. Since the beginning, Turkey has always underlined that it would only support those solutions which were acceptable to Azerbaijan. With this understanding, Turkey will continue to stand by brotherly Azerbaijan on the ground and at the table,” read the statement.

Azerbaijan has shown Armenia and the whole world that it has the ability and self-confidence to reclaim its territories under occupation for nearly 30 years, it stated.