‘Armenia is a rogue state’
Armenia’s attitude shows a clear violation of international law, says AKP spokesman Ömer Çelik
TURKEY’S ruling party spokesman called on countries on Tuesday not to apply a double standard in favour of Armenia regarding its recent clashes with Azerbaijan and a cease-fire agreement.
“The ceasefire calls of those who do not raise their voices against Armenia, which is a rogue state, is to put the cruel and the suffering in the same equation, to view the occupying and the occupied [state] equally,” Ömer Çelik, spokesman for the Justice and Development party (AKP), said during a meeting of the Central Decision and Executive Board at party headquarters in Ankara.
“This is also a clear violation of the law,” he added, underlining that this attitude shows a double standard.
He stressed that the Minsk Group tries to manage the process by considering Armenia and Azerbaijan on equal levels, but there are no two equals in this issue.
“The party that clearly violates international law, including the 1949 Geneva Convention, is the Armenian side,” he said.
“Armenia attacked the Azerbaijani army and civilians like a rogue state,” he said, reiterating that Turkey stands with Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people in every step they take to defend their territories against Armenia’s aggression.
He said Azerbaijan wants Turkey to be at the negotiation table, adding that those who really want the conflict to be resolved must also want Turkey to be involved in talks to find a solution and Turkey is ready for this.
Following meetings in Moscow on October 10, Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed on a humanitarian cease-fire so that the conflicting sides could retrieve bodies left on the battlefield in occupied Nagorno- Karabakh, or Upper Karabakh, and conduct a prisoner exchange.
Clashes broke out on September 27 when Armenian forces targeted civilian Azerbaijani settlements and military positions in the region, leading to casualties.
Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno- Kara - bakh.
Some 20 per cent of Azerbaijan’s territory has remained under illegal Armenian occupation for around three decades.
Four UN Security Council and two UN General Assembly resolutions as well as many international organisations demand the withdrawal of the occupying forces.
The OSCE Minsk Group — co-chaired by France, Russia and the US — was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but to no avail. A ceasefire, however, was agreed to in 1994.
Many world powers including Russia, France and the US have called for a new cease- fire. Turkey, meanwhile, has supported Baku’s right to self-defence and demanded the withdrawal of Armenia’s occupying forces.