OSCE Minsk Group cannot resolve Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – Erdogan

The OSCE Minsk Group cannot resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Apr.22 during a press conference held with Iraqi President Fuad Masum.

Masum is in Turkey to attend the festive procession on the occasion of the anniversary of the Battle of Canakkale (the Gallipoli Campaign, a.k.a. the Dardanelles Campaign, the Battle of Gallipoli).

Erdogan said that despite the fact that the international community supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is still not resolved.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group meet every year, but all that does not work, said the president of Turkey.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council’s four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

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