Erdogan Expresses Solidarity with Aliyev

YEREVAN — Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with ally Ilham Aliyev on April 2 expressing his support and solidarity with Azerbaijan. Erdogan said the Turkish people had always stood by the people of Azerbaijan, and extended condolences over the killing of Azerbaijani servicemen.

“We pray our Azerbaijani brothers will prevail in these clashes with the least casualties,” Erdogan was quoted on April 3 telling an Azerbaijani reporter while on a visit to the United States.

“We will support Azerbaijan to the end,” he added.

Erdogan also blasted the OSCE Minsk Group under the chairmanship of France, Russia and the United States for failing to resolve the conflict.

“We are faced with such incidents because the Minsk Group underestimated the situation,” Erdogan said.

“If the Minsk Group had taken fair and decisive steps over this, such incidents would not have happened. However, the weaknesses of the Minsk Group unfortunately led the situation to this point.”

Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenian  Shavarsh Kocharian commented on Turkey’s statements about the escalation of tension on the Line of Contact between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

“With such racist statements, Turkey encourages the aggressor’s further actions in the self-determined Nagorno Karabakh Republic,” Kocharian said.

“It is regrettable that the weight of human losses for Turkey is measured by national identity. And this fits into the logic of policy implemented by the current Turkish leadership, resulting in spreading the wave of instability, terrorism, and bloodshed both within and beyond Turkey’s borders,” the Deputy Minister added.