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11 August 2016

By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend

There is progress in settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Aksam newspaper reported Aug. 11.

Erdogan said that if firstly the five districts of Azerbaijan are liberated from the Armenian occupation, process of normalization can begin in the region.

“The whole world realizes that the Azerbaijani territories were occupied by Armenia,” he said. “And if everyone recognizes this, then why not put an end to this occupation?”

The president noted that the US, France and Russia for over 23 years have not been able to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“But now Russian President Vladimir Putin is working on this issue,” said Erdogan.

Speaking about the creation of Azerbaijan-Turkey-Russia trilateral format, the president said that Azerbaijan as well as Turkey and Russia positively assess this format.

Erdogan went on to add that foreign ministers of Turkey and Azerbaijan discussed the creation of Azerbaijan-Turkey-Russia trilateral format.

“The main purpose of such a format is to track and monitor events in the region,” said Erdogan.

On Aug. 9, Erdogan said Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia may create a trilateral mechanism of cooperation.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.