Turkey rebuffs calls for ceasefire

BAKU/ YEREVAN The presidents of France, Russia and the United States called on Thursday for an immediate ceasefire between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces around Nagorno- Karabakh, but Turkey said the three big powers should have no role in peace moves.

France, Russia and the United States are co- chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group, set up in 1992 to mediate in the decades- old conflict over the mountainous enclave in the South Caucasus. They appealed for peace as the death toll rose in the heaviest clashes since the 1990s around Nagorno-karabakh.

But in a speech to the Turkish parliament just before the three countries’ statement, President Tayyip Erdogan said he opposed their involvement.

“Given that the U.S.A., Russia and France have neglected this problem for nearly 30 years, it is unacceptable that they are involved in a search for a ceasefire,” Erdogan said.