Turkey: Parties condemn Armenian attack in Azerbaijan

By Merve Yildiz Ozmen and Zafer Fatih Beyaz

ANKARA (AA) - Two Turkish political parties on Sunday condemned Armenia for targeting civilians in its attack on Ganja, Azerbaijan's second-largest city.

"I strongly condemn Armenia's vicious attack on the Azerbaijan's city of Ganja, targeting innocent civilians by violating international law," said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), on Twitter.

He added that he stood with Azerbaijan in its "just cause."

Meanwhile, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chief Devlet Bahceli said Yerevan's actions attacking innocent civilians, constituted crimes against humanity.

"Armenia is the only anti-peace and anti-stability [side] in the southern Caucasus. Now, the international community should not remain silent towards the bloody attacks on civilians," he said in the written statement.

Referring to ongoing tensions in the Upper Karabakh region, he added that it was now a "historical necessity" that Azerbaijan be joined with its southwestern exclave, the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, which is surrounded by Armenia, Iran and Turkey.

"As a result of this unification, one voice, one breath, one heart will fight against the oppressor and the enemy," he said.

- Upper Karabakh conflict

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

Multiple UN resolutions, as well as many international organizations, demand the withdrawal of the invading 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 upon in 1994.

Many world powers including Russia, France, and the US have urged an immediate cease-fire. Turkey, meanwhile, has supported Baku's right to self-defense.