Ankara to Moscow: separatists must withdraw from Nagorno Karabakh

The Turkish Defense Minister called on Monday, October 12 for the withdrawal of Armenian separatists from Nagorno Karabakh in a telephone interview with his Russian counterpart, whose country has sponsored a truce in the enclave, blithely violated since its entry into force on Saturday. .

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Turkish Minister Hulusi Akar stressed during the meeting with Russian Sergei Shoigu the need for Armenia, "

”the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"

" added Hulusi Akar, referring to a first ceasefire concluded in 1994, which "

" the conflict after a war that had done something 30,000 dead.

Turkey sided with Azerbaijan

Turkey, which has sided with Azerbaijan since the start of the latest clashes on September 27, believes that a ceasefire would freeze the conflict in Karabakh again and defends Baku's right to "

»The enclave controlled by the Armenian separatists.

A humanitarian truce, negotiated in Moscow and which was intended in particular to allow an exchange of prisoners and bodies, should have come into force on Saturday noon, but it was never respected.

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Azerbaijan, which has spent lavishly on armaments in recent years, has warned that its military operations will only cease definitively in the event of an Armenian withdrawal from Nagorno Karabakh.

Russia maintains good relations with the two belligerents to which it supplies arms, but remains closer to Armenia, which belongs to a military alliance dominated by Moscow.

Turkey's firm support for Baku's stated desire to drive Armenian separatists out of Karabakh risks sparking tensions between Ankara and Moscow, which seeks to impose a ceasefire to end the fighting.