Español
Francés
English
On Wednesday 11 November, before the parliamentary group of his party, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the agreement reached by Armenia and Azerbaijan, under the aegis of Russia, which puts an end to 44 days of fighting for the possession of Nagorno-Karabakh and consecrates a military victory for Azerbaijan.
After six weeks of bloody battles in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed an agreement to end hostilities under the auspices of Moscow, after Armenian forces came close to collapse.
"A memorandum on the establishment of the Russian-Turkish Joint Military Centre for the Control and Monitoring of the Ceasefire in Karabakh was signed this morning," Erdogan said. Turkey and Russia will work together in this peace mission. "This centre, which will be established in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan, will take all necessary precautions to prevent violations of the ceasefire," the Turkish President said.
Erdogan wanted to clarify that the joint centre will be located in the Azeri territories that were liberated from Armenian occupation during the recent hostilities and said that "all measures to prevent violations of the ceasefire will be taken by this centre," according to the Turkish state agency.
"Turkey is ready to do whatever is necessary to restore peace, calm, security and prosperity in our region," he stressed. From now on, we will cooperate more closely with Azerbaijan. In addition, we are ready to work closely with other influential countries in our region, including Russia in the first place, to build a new Syria, in accordance with the will of the Syrian people.
In the meantime, the UN Panel of Experts on the use of mercenaries has called on "the parties and their supporting countries to immediately withdraw all mercenaries and related actors and not to engage in further recruitment, financing and deployment".
As part of this agreement, Russia has made effective the dispatch of 1,960 soldiers to be deployed on the line of separation between the warring parties and along the so-called Lachin corridor, which links Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. The two sides are to remain in their current positions, exchanging prisoners of war, other detainees and the bodies of those who have fallen in combat, according to al-Ain's middlers.
The agreement enshrines the great Azerbaijani military victories in this mountainous region in the Caucasus, after battles that left 1,500 dead in a partial outcome. Azerbaijan has also regained control of the territories to the north and south of the breakaway region.
The Armenian Prime Minister defended his decision, stressing that the signing of the ceasefire was the only way to preserve the unilaterally proclaimed republic in Nagorno-Karabakh, despite its weakened and reduced area.
On the other hand, the news aroused the joy of the Azerbaijani people and President Ilham Aliyev welcomed the "surrender" of Armenia.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said the agreement was "incredibly painful for me and our people".
The cessation of hostilities agreement provides, among other things, for Baku to regain control of seven of the Azerbaijani regions that used to serve as a protective shield around the Nagorno-Karabakh region and for Russian peacekeepers to be deployed.
The land still under Armenian control will be linked to Armenia by the five-kilometre Lachin land corridor.
The Armenian Prime Minister said the decision was based on "an analysis of the combat situation and a discussion with the best experts in the field". "It is not a victory, but there is no defeat as long as you do not consider yourself defeated," Pachinian said.
