ANKARA 

Ankara is "pleased" with the return of the city of Lachin, and villages of Zabukh and Sus to Azerbaijan, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"We hope that this development, which constitutes a significant step toward the establishment of peace and stability in the South Caucasus, will contribute to normalization in the region, as well as Azerbaijan-Armenia relations," the ministry said in a statement.

Türkiye will continue to support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of “brotherly” Azerbaijan, it added.

Earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced that the country’s army has been stationed in Lachin, and that villages of Zabukh and Sus were “taken under control.”