Turkey blames 'Armenian provocation' for fighting with Azerbaijan

Turkey has blamed "Armenian provocation" for the fighting on its border with Azerbaijan since Monday, which has caused numerous deaths on both sides.
 
"Armenia continues with its provocations and two days ago it took another such step. Azerbaijan certainly could not fail to respond to this," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu said in a video posted on his Twitter account on Wednesday.
 
"The fighting on the border shows how fragile the situation is in this region," the minister assessed.
 
He accused Yerevan of "burning and destroying, as well as laying mines everywhere" by withdrawing from the Lachin area after signing a ceasefire agreement with Baku in November 2020, so "you can see it was not well-intentioned".
 
"If we want lasting peace and stability, Armenia must renounce provocations and take sincere steps towards cooperation and peace, both towards Azerbaijan and towards us," the minister concluded.
 
Last night, the Turkish Defence Ministry also took a similar stance, tweeting that "Armenia must abandon its provocative and aggressive attitude that it has maintained for years and must recognise the opportunity for an outstretched hand for peace".
 
"We are always with our brothers and always will be," the military institution's message reiterated, referring to the close military and political alliance between Ankara and Baku.
 
Since the beginning of the year, Turkey and Armenia have been in the process of normalising diplomatic relations, with regular meetings in Vienna between a Turkish delegate, Serdar Kiliç, and the deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament, Ruben Rubinyan.