Turkey rebuffs Russia, France and U.S. over Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire moves

BAKU/YEREVAN, October 2 ------ The presidents of France, Russia and the United States called on Thursday for an immediate ceasefire between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces around Nagorno-Karabakh, but Turkey said the three big powers should have no role in peace moves. France, Russia and the United States are co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group, set up in 1992 to mediate in the decades-old conflict over the mountainous enclave in the South Caucasus.

They appealed for peace as the death toll rose in the heaviest clashes since the 1990s around Nagorno-Karabakh - part of Azerbaijan, but run by its mostly ethnic Armenian inhabitants. “We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities between the relevant military forces,” the joint French, Russian and U.S. statement said. They urged the ex-Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan to “commit without delay to resuming substantive negotiations, in good faith and without preconditions” under what is called the Minsk process.

But in a speech to the Turkish parliament just before the three countries’ statement, President Tayyip Erdogan said he opposed their involvement. “Given that the USA, Russia and France have neglected this problem for nearly 30 years, it is unacceptable that they are involved in a search for a ceasefire,” Erdogan said. He said a lasting ceasefire could be achieved only if “Armenian occupiers” withdrew from Nagorno-Karabakh. His comments are likely to fuel tension with his NATO allies as fears mount that the conflict could draw in regional powers Russia, which has a military base in majority Christian Armenia, and Turkey, a close ally of mainly Muslim Azerbaijan.

The conflict moved closer to the Armenian capital of Yerevan late Thursday as the government reported four “enemy” drones downed near the city. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on social media that the four drones appeared in Armenian airspace in the provinces of Kotayk and Gegharkunik, and Armenian air defense forces had destroyed them. A Reuters witness in the city saw a glowing object in the sky.

Source: reuters.com