Erdogan supports Azerbaijan’s military assault on Karabakh

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday claimed that Karabakh is Azerbaijani territory, and the imposition of any other status for the region would never be accepted.

Addressing the UN General Assembly, Erdogan said, "We have supported the negotiation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia from the beginning. However, we see that Armenia has not fully seized this historic opportunity."

He expressed Turkey's expectation that Armenia fulfill its commitments, especially those related to the opening of the Zangezur corridor, a key planned unimpeded road through Armenian territory connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave.

"As everyone now accepts, Karabakh is Azerbaijani territory. The imposition of any other status will never be accepted," Erdogan underlined, adding that the primary goal should now be peaceful coexistence for all, including Armenians, on Azerbaijani territory.

Turkey supports Azerbaijan's steps to preserve its territorial integrity, he said.

Azerbaijan said on Wednesday its military operation in Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh continued successfully, disregarding calls from the U.S. and Russia to halt the aggressive engagement in the contested area.

Tensions have been swelling for months in the Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous territory which, while internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, is partially governed by Armenian separatist authorities who claim it as their ancestral land. Earlier this week, Azerbaijan intensified the situation further by deploying troops complemented by artillery strikes, in an initiative to reclaim control over the breakaway region.