In the wake of Armenia's aggression, Ankara warned Yerevan to 'learn from the past' and support peace while also reiterating Türkiye's concrete support of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity
Armenia should stop its provocations along the border with Azerbaijan and instead support peace, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Tuesday.
In the wake of Azerbaijan's response to these provocations, "Armenia needs to learn its lesson and seek peace," Çavuşoğlu said.
Speaking at an event in the Black Sea province of Kastamonu, Çavuşoğlu cited the promise of Azerbaijan's comprehensive peace proposal, while "Armenia, on the other hand, burned and destroyed everything while withdrawing from Lachin," a strategic city recently returned to Azerbaijan.
"They laid mines everywhere, pursued evil," he said.
Even though Türkiye and Armenia last year appointed envoys to normalize ties, Çavuşoğlu said, "Both the world and Armenia know that this (normalization) process will not proceed independently of Azerbaijan. For full stability and peace in the region, the problems between all countries must be resolved."
"We always stand on the side with dear Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan never stands alone," he added.
Later Çavuşoğlu spoke with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov over the phone on Tuesday.
Discussions between the two focused on Armenian provocations on the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border, Çavuşoğlu said on Twitter.
"Armenia should cease its provocations and focus on peace negotiations and cooperation with Azerbaijan," said Çavuşoğlu.
‘As Türkiye, we support our Azerbaijani brothers’
After the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced that 50 Azerbaijani soldiers were martyred, Turkish diplomats spoke with their Azerbaijani counterparts to evaluate the situation on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border and to express their condolences to Azerbaijan.
Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalın on Twitter expressed concerns over the tensions at the Azerbaijani-Armenian border.
"Clashes on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border are worrisome. Armenia should stay away from provocative attitudes as the negotiations continue," Kalın said.
Affirming Türkiye's solidarity with Azerbaijan, Kalın said "peace and stability can only be achieved on the basis of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and legitimate rights."
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and his Azerbaijani counterpart Zakir Hasanov on Tuesday discussed the latest escalation at the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.
Conveying his condolences for those Azerbaijani soldiers killed in Monday night's deadly clashes, Akar in a Twitter message wished a speedy recovery to those injured.
Criticizing Armenia's "aggressive attitude and provocative actions," Akar emphasized that Türkiye has always stood by "brotherly Azerbaijan and will continue to stand by its just causes."
Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop called Sahiba Gafarova, speaker of the Azerbaijan National Assembly, and offered his condolences for the soldiers who were martyred as a result of Armenia's provocations on the border.
Şentop said on his social media account, "I called the speaker of the Azerbaijani National Assembly, my dear friend, Sahiba Gafarova, and conveyed our sorrow for the heroic Azerbaijani soldiers who fell as martyrs. In our meeting, I once again expressed that we will continue to support our dear brothers with all our means."
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also spoke on the phone with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
During the phone meeting, Erdoğan emphasized the solidarity between the two countries, saying that Türkiye always stands by Azerbaijan. Aliyev, for his part, said that Türkiye stands by Azerbaijan as always, and Azerbaijan stands by Türkiye in all matters.
Türkiye’s Defense Ministry was also among those who conveyed their condolences and support to Azerbaijan.
The ministry issued a statement and said, "Armenia should abandon its provocative and aggressive stance and be pro-peace. As Türkiye, we are always with our Azerbaijani brothers and we will always be with them!"
U.N., OSCE, U.S. call for restraint
On the other hand, some actions were taken in the world regarding the conflict on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border.
"The secretary-general is deeply concerned about reports of renewed fighting along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border," U.N. chief Antonio Guterres' spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday.
Guterres urged both sides to take immediate steps to deescalate tensions, exercise maximum restraint and resolve any outstanding issues through dialogue and within existing formats, Dujarric said.
The OSCE also urged an "immediate cease-fire" Tuesday after the latest border flare-up between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
"The escalation of hostilities at the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan must cease immediately," it said in a statement.
Chairman-in-Office of the security bloc and Foreign Minister of Poland Zbigniew Rau said in the statement that "the progress achieved so far by following the diplomatic path must not be squandered."
He noted that fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan jeopardized the process of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Secretary-General Helga Maria Schmid also urged the sides to stop hostilities, adding, "Drawing on decades of experience and expertise, the OSCE stands ready to help."
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said he was concerned that Russia could try to "stir the pot" in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia as Washington urged the two countries to show restraint.
Washington has urged both sides in the conflict to cease hostilities after fighting broke out near the two countries border.
"Whether Russia tries in some fashion to stir the pot, to create a distraction from Ukraine, is something we're always concerned about," Blinken told reporters at an event in Indiana, adding that Russia could also use its influence in the region to help "calm the waters."
White House spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. remained deeply concerned about reports of attacks along the countries' border and urged the governments of both countries to reestablish direct lines of communications across diplomatic and military channels.
"We've actively engaged with both the Armenian and the Azerbaijani government to ... see what we can do to end this violence," Kirby told reporters at the White House. "There can be no military solution to this conflict. We urge restraint from any further military hostilities," he urged.
Blinken held separate calls overnight with Armenia's prime minister and Azerbaijan's president to express Washington's concerns over fighting along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, the State Department said. He urged Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Aliyev to cease hostilities and said Washington would push for an immediate halt to the fighting, the department said.
Charles Michel, president of the European Council, also urged the sides to deescalate. Michel met with Pashinian and Aliyev last month in Brussels for talks on the normalization of ties, humanitarian issues and the prospect of a peace treaty over Karabakh.
EU Special Representative Toivo Klaar was set to travel to both countries to support efforts to curb the violence.
France will raise the clashes at the U.N. Security Council, the office of French President Emmanuel Macron said.
In addition, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell discussed renewed fighting on the Armenia and Azerbaijan border with the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers on Tuesday.
Borrell said he had an in-depth discussion about the situation in a telephone call with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.
He said on Twitter that he "called for de-escalation and respect of cease fire. Peaceful dialogue is urgently needed."
The European Union Special Representative (EUSR) "for South Caucasus (Toivo Klaar) is on his way to Baku and Yerevan to facilitate these efforts," he noted.
Borrell also discussed the latest flare-up with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
"The hostilities must stop and cease fire needs to be respected," he wrote in a separate tweet.
Earlier, these actions by Armenian forces led to the confrontation, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said, adding that there were casualties on both sides, including 50 Azerbaijani soldiers.
The ministry noted that the Armenian military engaged in wide-scale provocations near the Dashkasan, Kalbajar and Lachin regions. It continued by saying that sabotage groups of the Armenian military also laid mines between the strips of land and roads of the Azerbaijani military.
Armenia and Russia on Tuesday agreed on joint steps to stabilize the situation along Armenia's border with Azerbaijan after deadly overnight clashes, officials in Yerevan said.
Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan and Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu "held a phone conversation to discuss Azerbaijan's aggression against Armenia's sovereign territory," the Defense Ministry in Yerevan said, adding that the two "agreed to take necessary steps to stabilize the situation."
Armenia said Tuesday that at least 49 of its troops were killed in border clashes with Azerbaijan, the worst fighting between the archfoes since their 2020 war over the Karabakh region.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a decadeslong dispute over the region of Karabakh, which lies within Azerbaijan but was under the illegal occupation of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.
Moscow brokered a peace deal last November to end six weeks of fighting over the territory, during which more than 6,600 people were killed. The truce allowed Azerbaijan to reclaim control over large parts of Karabakh and surrounding areas that the Armenia-backed separatists controlled.