Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Armenia for peace following Azerbaijan’s takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh last week.
Thousands of ethnic Armenians continue to flee their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Last week, Baku launched the so-called “anti-terrorist operation” in the mountainous region, as a result of which about 200 ethnic Armenians were killed.
Erdogan was speaking alongside Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during a trip to the Azerbaijani autonomous enclave of Nakhchivan. Attending the opening of a new military facility, Erdogan said the reclaiming of Nagorno-Karabakh provided a “historic opportunity to establish peace” in the South Caucasus region.
The Turkish president urged Armenia to “seize the hand extended to them.”
Aliyev, for his part, stated the operation to take control of Nagorno-Karabakh had been carried out with, as he put it, “maximum respect for the rights of the civilian population”.
