In a statement issued on Monday, the Turkish ministry also called on Yerevan to “refrain from provocative steps, recognize the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan and support Azerbaijan’s efforts on the integration of the [Karabakh] Armenian population.”
Official Ankara said it was closely following the discussions around the Lacհin road, emphasizing that it “understands the legitimate concerns of Azerbaijan on that issue.”
“Turkey believes that there is no reason to criticize Azerbaijan regarding the Lachin road,” it said.
The Turkish statement came after Armenia officially asked the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on the issue of humanitarian access to Nagorno-Karabakh that Yerevan and Stepanakert say has been denied for months by Azerbaijan that has imposed an “illegal blockade” on the region.
Earlier ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said that the purpose of Baku’s proposal to provide humanitarian aid through Agdam without restoring free movement through the Lachin corridor was “an attempt to revise” the Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement under which the vital land connection between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia was placed under the control of Russian peacekeepers.
“This approach that has persistently been proposed by Azerbaijan violates the rights and humiliates the dignity of the people of Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh – ed.] and contradicts international humanitarian law,” Stepanakert said.
Yerevan, likewise, believes that the checkpoint installed by Azerbaijan at the Lachin corridor contradicts the terms of the ceasefire agreement and is, therefore, illegal. The Armenian government also denies having any territorial claims to Azerbaijan or otherwise infringing on its sovereignty. It insists, however, that the rights and security of Karabakh Armenians be discussed between Baku and Stepanakert in an “internationally visible” dialogue.