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Ankara praises Baku, its close ally, for a “major win on the battlefield and the table”, amid a deal to end the conflict.
Turkey said on Tuesday that an agreement to end more than a month of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh had secured significant progress for its close ally Azerbaijan in the conflict with Armenia.
The agreement, signed by Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, follows six weeks of intense fighting and advances by Azerbaijani forces. On Sunday, Azerbaijan proclaimed victory in the second-largest city in the region.
“Brother Azerbaijan has achieved a significant gain on the battlefield and at the table. I sincerely congratulate this sacred success, ”said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Twitter. “We will continue to be a nation, a spirit with our Azeri brothers.”
Turkey had accused Armenia of occupying Azerbaijani lands and pledged its full solidarity with Azerbaijan, with which it maintains close ethnic Turkish ties.
Under the agreement, Russian peacekeepers will be deployed along the front line in Nagorno-Karabakh and the corridor between the region and Armenia. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that Turkey will also participate in the peacekeeping process.
Azerbaijan said that since September 27 it has regained much of the land in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave that it lost in a 1991-1994 war that killed some 30,000 people and forced many more from their homes. Armenia has denied the extent of Azerbaijan’s territorial gains.
Several thousand people are feared to have died in the outbreak of the conflict. Three humanitarian ceasefires had failed before the declaration early Tuesday.
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