Turkey condemns Armenian attack on Azerbaijani city

By Havva Kara Aydin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Sunday strongly condemned Armenia's recent attacks on Azerbaijan's second-largest city of Ganja, despite a cease-fire in place.

The attack that targeted an apartment building, killing nine civilians is "a new example of provocations by the Armenian administration to spread the conflict beyond the occupied Azerbaijani territories,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

With the latest attack on civilians, it said, Armenia has revealed it has no problem "in violating international humanitarian law" and does not understand what a cease-fire is.

The ministry called on the international community to stop Armenia’s lawlessness, saying it is a clear reflection of its occupying and aggressive mindset.

-Karabakh conflict

Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.

The recent clashes began on Sept. 27, when Armenian forces targeted civilian Azerbaijani settlements and military positions in the region, leading to casualties.

Four UN Security Council and two UN General Assembly resolutions, as well as many international organizations, demand the withdrawal of the occupying forces.

The OSCE Minsk Group -- co-chaired by France, Russia, and the US -- was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but to no avail. A cease-fire, however, was agreed to in 1994.

A new armistice was agreed on Saturday to allow an exchange of prisoners and the recovery of bodies, but it has been violated by Armenia.

Turkey has supported Baku's right to self-defense and demanded the withdrawal of Armenia’s occupying forces.