Turkish, Azerbaijani top diplomats discuss developments regarding Nagorno-Karabakh

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu late Tuesday held a phone call with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov. During the meeting, the two ministers evaluated the latest developments amid the ongoing clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the territorial disputes in the Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The clashes began on Sept. 27 when Armenian forces targeted civilian Azerbaijani settlements and military positions in the region, leading to casualties.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

Twenty percent of Azerbaijan's territory has remained under illegal Armenian occupation for around three decades.

Following meetings in Moscow on Oct. 10, Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed on a humanitarian cease-fire so that conflicting sides could retrieve bodies left on the battlefield in Nagorno-Karabakh and hold prisoners' exchange.

However, Armenian forces launched a missile strike on Azerbaijan's second-largest city, Ganja – despite the region being outside the frontline zone – leaving at least 10 people dead and 35 others wounded, including women and children.

Multiple U.N. resolutions, as well as many international organizations, demand the withdrawal of the occupying forces.

Minsk Group, set up by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) – co-chaired by France, Russia, and the U.S. – was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but to no avail. A cease-fire, however, was agreed to in 1994.

Many world powers, including Russia, France, and the U.S., have urged a new cease-fire. Turkey, meanwhile, has supported Baku's right to self-defense and demanded the withdrawal of Armenia's occupying forces.