Turkish president likely to have phone call with Armenian premier on Karabakh issue

By Diyar Guldogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said he might hold a phone call with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Monday to discuss the latest developments in the region.

"Probably, I will hold a call with Pashinyan tomorrow. These steps taken now in Karabakh are not correct. It is not possible to accept them and we do not regard them as positive," Erdogan said at a news conference after the G-20 summit in India.

The G-20 leaders, in the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, gathered in the capital New Delhi for a two-day summit under the theme of "One Earth, One Family, One Future."

About the recent developments in Karabakh, Erdogan said he had a phone call with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev about the Karabakh issue.

"In my meeting with (European Council President) Charles Michel, he also stated the EU doesn't think these steps are acceptable. In my conversation with Pashinyan, I will say that we won't recognize these illegal elections. No western country recognizes them," Erdogan said.

On Saturday, Türkiye condemned the so-called elections held "under the control of illegal Armenian forces" in territories of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region.

"The elections held in the territories of Karabakh region of Azerbaijan under the control of illegal Armenian forces, is a new manifestation of efforts to unilaterally legitimize the current situation in the region, which is contrary to international law," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.