Turkish, Azerbaijani ministers discuss post-war developments

Turkey's foreign minister held a one-on-one meeting late Wednesday with his Azerbaijani counterpart in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Mevüt Çavuşoğlu and Jeyhun Bayramov met after a dinner hosted by Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi in honor of his Turkish and Azerbaijani counterparts.

Çavuşoğlu said on Twitter that the two discussed the latest developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan.

Posting with the "TekMilletIkıDevlet" [One Nation Two States] tag, Çavuşoğlu said Turkey will "continue to support our Azerbaijani brothers and sisters in building peace."

KARABAKH DISPUTE

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as an Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions.

When new clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and even violated humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages, while at least 2,802 of its soldiers were martyred. There are differing claims about the number of casualties on the Armenian side, which sources and officials say could be up to 5,000.

The two countries signed a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10 to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.

A joint Turkish-Russian center is being established to monitor the truce. Russian peacekeeping troops have also been deployed in the region.

The cease-fire is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia, whose armed forces have withdrawn in line with the agreement. Violations, however, have been reported in the past few weeks, with some Armenian soldiers said to have been hiding in the mountainous enclave.