By Gozde Bayar
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey's mainstream political parties on Monday unanimously condemned the Armenian attack on Azerbaijan.
They include the ruling Justice and Development Party and its ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), along with the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and Good (IYI) Party.
"As political parties having representation in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, we strongly condemn the attack with heavy weapons by the Armenian Armed Forces targeting Azerbaijani civilian settlements and soldiers on Sept. 28 in clear violation of the cease-fire and international law in Upper Karabakh,” according to a joint statement.
Turkey supports Azerbaijan’s right to self-defense in line with international law to protect its people and ensure territorial integrity, it added.
Stressing that Upper Karabakh has been under Armenian occupation for 30 years, it said Turkey reaffirmed support for a peaceful solution to end the occupation in line with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The parties called on the international community to stand by Azerbaijan, which has suffered from occupation and reckless attacks by Armenia.
Relations between the two former Soviet nations have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.
However, the conflict has re-erupted with heavy clashes reported on Sunday.
Four UN Security Council and two UN General Assembly resolutions, as well as many international organizations, demand the withdrawal of the occupying forces.
The OSCE Minsk Group — co-chaired by France, Russia and the US — was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but to no avail. A cease-fire, however, was agreed upon in 1994.
France, Russia and NATO, among others, have urged an immediate halt to clashes in the occupied region.
