Türkiye reaffirms support for Azerbaijan after deadly Armenian attack

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye on Wednesday reaffirmed its support for Azerbaijan following an Armenian attack that killed Azerbaijani soldiers.

In a phone call, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu offered condolences to his counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov after three Azerbaijani soldiers were killed by Armenian forces in the Lachin district of the East Zangezur region on Tuesday.

Cavusoglu also reiterated Türkiye's and the Turkish nation’s full support for Azerbaijan, according to diplomatic sources.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements from Armenian occupation, before over a month of fighting was halted with a Russian-brokered peace agreement.