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

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS OF TURKISH PRESIDENT

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. We have no choice but to invite the region to calm. But these steps taken now, especially in Khankendi and Karabakh, are not the right steps. It is not possible to accept this," 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.

"As a matter of fact, the EU member countries do not accept this. 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. All the friendly, Western countries we have met so far do not accept such an election anyway," 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.