Turkish FM Fidan meets with his Italian and Azerbaijani counterparts

Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has met with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani in New York to discuss irregular migration, according to a statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

The meeting came as Fidan is in New York to attend the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, during which he has held several bilateral meetings to discuss global issues with his counterparts, including those from Azerbaijan and Greece on Tuesday, the Netherlands on Monday, and Germany and Ireland on Sunday.

In late June, Fidan had attended an Italy-led conference in Rome on irregular migration.

During the conference, he stressed the importance of regional cooperation to tackle irregular migration, which he called a common challenge faced by Mediterranean countries.

Discussing tensions in Karabakh with Azerbaijani counterpart

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that during the meeting Fidan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov discussed the current situation in Karabakh, which Azerbaijan liberated from nearly three decades of Armenian occupation in a 2020 war.

The meeting came as Azerbaijan said on Tuesday that it started "counter-terrorism" measures in Karabakh to uphold provisions outlined in a trilateral peace agreement with Russia and Armenia to end the 2020 conflict.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages, and settlements from Armenian occupation during 44 days of clashes. The war ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire.