'Turkey, Azerbaijan share strategic, brotherly ties'

ANKARA

Turkey and Azerbaijan share strategic ties and brotherly relations, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

"Both countries enjoy a mutually beneficial cooperation and are participating in the gigantic projects linked to the energy and transport areas," Leyla Abdullayeva told Anadolu Agency in the capital Ankara.

Abdullayeva noted that Azerbaijan and Turkey have been working together in many areas, including politics, economy, culture and humanitarian efforts.

"The existing friendly relations are giving another impetus to furthering the brotherly links between the two countries," the spokeswoman said.

She said foreign ministers of both countries will meet on the sidelines of a two-day summit of the Turkic Council on Oct. 14 in Azerbaijan's capital Baku, adding that a new office of the council is expected to open in Hungary soon.

Abdullayeva touched upon the efforts of the Azerbaijani side on solving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper Karabakh conflict.

She said initiatives by international mediators are not yielding results because of the "non-constructive position and the aggressive policy" of Armenia.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk group -- co-chaired by France, Russia and the U.S. -- was formed to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but has not reached any results yet.

She said that the latest "irresponsible and baseless statements" of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and other leaders "are really undermining the efforts of the international community" as well as the Azerbaijani side's efforts on finding a peaceful solution to the conflict.

In August, Pashinyan visited the occupied Azerbaijani territories where he attended the so-called opening ceremony of “Pan-Armenian Games”. During the "opening ceremony", Pashinyan made a provocative statement, calling Upper Karabakh "an integral part of Armenia".

Four UN Security Council and two UN General Assembly resolutions refer to the occupation and demand withdrawal of the Armenian forces from Upper Karabakh and seven other occupied regions of Azerbaijan.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe also refers to the region as an occupation by Armenian forces.

"Unfortunately, these resolutions as well as the other dozens of documents and resolutions adopted by various international organizations remain unimplemented so far," she said.

Abdullayeva said Baku thought there was a "window of opportunity" during last year's change in the political leadership of Armenia. But time had shown that the present government is following the same policy on the Upper Karabakh conflict.

"We think that the sooner the Armenian side recognizes the reality and recognizes the necessity of the soonest solution of the conflict, the sooner peace, progress and prosperity will come to our region," she concluded.