The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe should take note of the UN stance on the Azerbaijani-Armenian territorial dispute and support Baku, Turkey's prime minister has said.
"The OSCE Minsk Group should be more decisive on this issue," Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying on Azerbaijan's ANS TV channel.
"Steps must be taken. The UN declared that Nagorny Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan... Who should take the necessary step in this case? Armenia should," the prime minister said.
"When we talk about settling the conflict, we mean an agreement on the seven districts" belonging to Azerbaijan and occupied by Armenia, he said.
If an agreement is not reached, "Turkey will take no positive steps towards Armenia."
Four resolutions condemning the Armenian invasion and occupation of Azerbaijan's territories were passed by the UN Security Council in 1993, at the height of the Azerbaijani-Armenian war in Nagorny Karabakh.
Later that year, Turkey closed its border with Armenia in a show of support for Azerbaijan, a predominantly Muslim, Turkic-speaking ally of Ankara.
In October 2009, Turkey and Armenia signed historic accords on diplomatic relations and on development of bilateral ties. The documents have yet to be ratified by the country's parliaments, and face opposition from nationalist parties in both countries.
Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov in Athens that Turkish-Armenian deals can only be ratified after the Nagorny Karabakh issue is resolved.
Ankara has also demanded that Yerevan drop its campaign to have the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 internationally recognized as genocide.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorny Karabakh first erupted in 1988, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia.
Over 30,000 people were reported dead on both sides between 1988 and 1994, and over 100 others died after a ceasefire was concluded in 1994, leaving Nagorny Karabakh in Armenian hands, but tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia have persisted.
The OSCE Minsk Group, comprising the United States, Russia and France, is a mediator in the conflict.
BAKU, December 7 (RIA Novosti)
Source:rian.ru/
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