Turkish president hopes that the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group will soon find a solution to the Karabakh conflict, which lasts more than 20 years.
His remark came during the summit dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) that is underway in Istanbul.
Following the speech of the Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Ashot Hovakimyan, President Erdogan agreed that the BSEC is not a platform for the discussion of the Karabakh issue and noted that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries, including Russia which has a representative in the hall, are engaged in this problem.
In his speech, Ashot Hovakimyan commented on the accusations voiced against the country by speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament Oktay Asadov who used BSEC platform to once again present a distorted picture of the Karabakh conflict.
“We are sure that this summit is not a place, and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation is not a format, where this issue should be discussed. Having done this, the Azerbaijani side showed disrespectful attitude to the BSEC Charter, principles and goals of the organization and the summit itself,” Hovakimyan stressed.
In the context of the ongoing bellicose policy of Azerbaijan, in particular the April aggression and its consequences, as well as the efforts of Armenia and the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group to eliminate them, Armenian official presented Azerbaijan's steps to break these efforts.
“Charges, belligerent behavior, unilateral demands cannot lead to the solution of this problem. Progress will be possible only if Azerbaijan renounces the policy of using force and gets involved in the negotiation process in good faith and in the format agreed with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs,” he added.
