Erdogan said that Baku was forced to carry out an operation in Karabakh

Azerbaijan was forced to carry out “anti-terrorist measures” in Nagorno-Karabakh. This was stated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“Unfortunately, Azerbaijan was unable to receive the necessary response to its legitimate and justified concerns, which it repeatedly expressed for almost three years after the second Karabakh war. As a result, he had to carry out an anti-terrorist operation on his own sovereign territory,” the Turkish leader said (quote according to TRT).

Erdogan added that Ankara is proud of the fact that the operation was completed successfully “in an extremely short time with maximum respect for the rights of the civilian population.” He also congratulated Azerbaijan on this.

According to Erdogan, the successful completion of the operation “opened up new opportunities” for normalizing the situation in the region. He said he expected Armenia to “accept the hand of peace extended to it” and stressed that “the world has no losers.”

On September 19, Azerbaijan announced the start of “anti-terrorist measures” necessary for the “restoration of the constitutional order” in Nagorno-Karabakh. The next day, Karabakh authorities announced the conclusion of agreements on a complete ceasefire. On September 21, negotiations were held in Yevlakh between the delegation of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and representatives of the Azerbaijani authorities.

Earlier today, the Armenian government reportedthat 6,650 internally displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh have already entered the country. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev expressed confidence that the process of reintegration of the Armenian population of Karabakh will be successful. He noted that the second meeting of representatives of Karabakh and Azerbaijan is taking place on September 25 in Khankendi.