Turkish authorities are planning to expand the cooperation on the Karabakh conflict settlement to the "3+3" format. This was stated by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at a press conference with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Istanbul on Friday. The broadcast was carried by the NTV channel.
"We need to facilitate a cease-fire. So we plan to cooperate on this path and in the "3+3" format (Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, Georgia, Turkey - TASS note)," the minister said.
Cavusoglu separately noted that "the mere desire for normalization in the South Caucasus is not enough" and "it is necessary to achieve a permanent cease-fire through increased cooperation."
"Peace and stability in this region is in everyone's interest. It will be most beneficial to Armenia and its people. Therefore, we expect Armenia to take constructive steps in this direction," Cavusoglu added. He recalled that before coming to Turkey, Zarif had visited Azerbaijan, Russia, Armenia and Georgia, where he discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, among other matters. The foreign ministers of the two countries analyzed the results of these contacts.
The initiative on the six-party format of cooperation on Karabakh was earlier put forward by Azerbaijani and Turkish leaders Ilham Aliyev and Tayyip Erdogan. Iran welcomed the idea, assuring that it was ready to promote steps to strengthen peace in the region.
On the situation in Karabakh
The situation in the conflict zone over Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27 and active hostilities broke out there. Baku and Yerevan have disputed ownership of the region since February 1988, when it announced its secession from the Azerbaijani SSR.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on the full cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh on November 9. According to the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the occupied positions, a number of districts came under Baku's control, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the line of contact and the Lachin corridor. After the deployment of peacekeepers, the situation stabilized and only one ceasefire violation was recorded. Tens of thousands of Karabakh residents who left their homes during the hostilities have returned with the help of the peacekeeping contingent.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS