Turkey: U.S., Russia, France ceasefire effort for Karabakh "unacceptable"

Turkey: U.S., Russia, France ceasefire effort for Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, October 1 it was unacceptable that the United States, Russia and France were involved in a search for a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, given they had neglected problems there for 30 years, Reuters reports.

"Given that the USA, Russia and France have neglected this problem for nearly 30 years, it is unacceptable that they are involved in a search for a ceasefire," Erdogan said.

As his speech was ending, these three countries issued a statement demanding an immediate ceasefire in Karabakh. They called on the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to commit without delay to resuming substantive negotiations, in good faith and without preconditions, under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

France, Russia and the United States are co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group which was set up in 1992 to mediate a peaceful resolution for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijan launched a major offensive against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27, shelling Armenian positions and civilian settlements with large caliber weapons and rocket systems. Armenia and Karabakh have introduced martial law and total mobilization. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. On September 29, the Azerbaijani army began shelling positions and civilian settlements in Armenia, which resulted in civilian casualty. On October 1, a group of local and international journalists came under Azerbaijan's shelling of civilian settlements. Some of them have sustained injuries.

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