Erdoğan calls on France to leave Minsk Group

BAKU - Anatolia News Agency

The Turkish prime minister has called on France to quit as a member of the Minsk Group aiming to secure a settlement to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Upper Karabakh.

“France has clearly shown that it has taken a side [in the Upper Karabakh dispute] by adopting the law penalizing denial of Armenian allegations. This is why it has to step down from the Minsk Group,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told an interview on the Azeri national TV network, ANS. He said French President Nicolas Sarkozy had never been fair and sincere in his relations with Armenians and that his judgment as a Minsk member could therefore not be trusted. Last month the upper house of the French Parliament adopted a law that makes denial of Armenian allegations punishable. The Minsk Group is an OSCE initiative aimed at encouraging a peaceful, negotiated resolution to disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh