Erdogan: "We do not care about the calls of countries that ignore the occupation"

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan harshly criticized the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries and called Armenia a “bandit state”.

During his speech at the opening of the autumn session of the Turkish parliament, Erdogan noted that Ankara supports Azerbaijan in the fair struggle for the liberation of the occupied lands.

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According to him, the battles that began with the Armenian shelling of peaceful Azerbaijani villages, once again confirmed that the Caucasus region is very explosive.

“The condition for long-term peace in the Caucasus is the liberation of every piece of the occupied lands of Azerbaijan. Turkey perceives Azerbaijan from the prism of the “one nation and two states” principle. We will continue to provide all possible support to our Azerbaijani brothers,” he promised.

Erdogan called on the Armenian authorities to stop the flow of lies and disinformation regarding Turkey. “The invaders must leave the lands of Azerbaijan. The hour of settling the issue has come,” the head of state said.

The Turkish President further stressed that the countries that ignore the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh are hypocritical.

The head of state criticized the position of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries.

“The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs have been ignoring the solution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict for 30 years. Today’s events are the result of this. The ongoing calls by the co-chairs for a ceasefire are unacceptable. The solution to the problem will come after the withdrawal of the Armenian Armed Forces from the territory of Azerbaijan. More than a million refugees and IDP’s in Azerbaijan must return to their native lands. However, none [of the intermediaries] contributes to this. Raise this question first! We discussed these issues with Mr Putin and Mr Macron. Much has been said about this, but there are no results. Our brothers in Azerbaijan are forced to solve their problem themselves. The calls of the countries that ignore the fact of occupation mean nothing to us,” the president continued.

The Turkish leader warned the countries supporting the “bandit state” (as he referred to Armenia) that they are responsible before the common conscience of mankind, Anadolu agency reported.

President Erdogan also commented on the call of the Armenian Prime Minister for “Turkey’s non-interference in the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Ankara is not obliged to report to Nikol Pashinyan. We make our own decisions,” he stressed.