Turkish Amb: Georgia Has Right Position in Karabakh Conflict
"Georgia has the right position in the Karabakh conflict," Turkish Ambassador to Georgia Fatma Ceren Yazgan said in an exclusive interview with the newspaper Kviris Palitra.
As she pointed out, "The situation in Georgia is quite difficult, however, your position is very important."
"In light of the upcoming elections, foreign policy may not seem a priority, but at the moment, Georgia's two neighbors are involved in an armed conflict. In this situation, it is very important not to do things that the parties to the conflict will use against each other. I believe that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and other relevant agencies will take all necessary measures and approach this issue diligently. Georgia has a principled position on territorial integrity and we need to follow these principles.
"I think Georgia has the right policy on this issue: 1. It always maintains a principled position; 2. It seeks to work with international partners to end the conflict and establish lasting peace in the region. 3. It is a fair position that Georgia does not want to use its territory to buy and send weapons with the money collected.
"We have excellent relations with Georgia because Turkey is the only neighboring country with which Georgia's borders are demarcated. We do not have this kind of problem with each other. Armenians and Azerbaijanis live together in Georgia, they have common settlements, and the culture of living together is very important for us. It is unfortunate that false and ugly propaganda about Turkish-Georgian relations is being spread by third parties. The main thing is not to promote this propaganda," she noted.
The situation in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region remains tense and hostilities between the two neighboring countries of Georgia continue.
On Saturday, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a new humanitarian ceasefire. The move came after Azerbaijan said 13 civilians were killed in an Armenian missile attack on its second-biggest city, Ganja.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who negotiated last weekend's agreement, urged the parties to "strictly follow" the previous agreement.
However, shortly after reaching a ceasefire, both sides accused each other of violating the agreement.
Armenian defense ministry spokeswoman said Azerbaijan broke the ceasefire after just four minutes by firing artillery shells and rockets.
Azerbaijan later said Armenia had broken the truce after two minutes.
The military confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan started on September 27 over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. There are large numbers of casualties on both sides.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988. Azerbaijan believes that Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding areas - 20% of Azerbaijan - are occupied by the Armenian Armed Forces, which is categorically denied by Armenia.
By Ana Dumbadze