Turkic nations urged to back Azerbaijan over Karabakh

ANKARA

A prominent Turkish politician on Tuesday urged Turkic nations to raise their voice in support of Azerbaijan.

"Another issue which troubles and upsets us is the silence, unresponsiveness and inaction from Turkic nations over the Upper Karabakh issue," Devlet Bahceli, the leader of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), told his party's parliamentary group.

"Is this silence and inaction convenient for any Turk?" asked Bahceli.

Reminding the Turkic nations -- including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan -- Azerbaijan was the aggrieved party over the Upper Karabakh issue, the MHP leader said: "Azerbaijan is the country whose territorial integrity and sovereignty rights were assassinated."

Upper Karabakh conflict

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

Fresh clashes erupted on Sept. 27, and Armenia has since continued its attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces, even violating humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

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.

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