Türkiye's Defence Chief meets with his Azerbaijani, Georgian counterparts

There is an opportunity to establish peace in the South Caucasus, the Turkish National Defence Minister Yasar Guler said, but added that so far Armenia has passed this up.

"Although they have a historical opportunity to establish peace, tranquility and cooperation in the South Caucasus, we see that Armenia has not been able to adequately utilise this historical opportunity," Guler said on Monday at a meeting with his Azerbaijani and Georgian counterparts in Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital.

Guler met with Azerbaijan’s Zakir Hasanov and Georgia’s Juansher Burchuladze to discuss regional defence issues and defence cooperation.

Türkiye will continue its solidarity with Azerbaijan and Georgia for the sake of peace and stability in the region, Guler said.

"We have supported the negotiation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia from the beginning and continue to do so," he stressed.

"We believe that the path to regional peace and stability is through a comprehensive peace agreement signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia."

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement and also opened the door to normalisation.

This September, the Azerbaijani army launched an anti-terrorism operation in Karabakh to establish constitutional order in the region, after which illegal Armenian separatist forces in the region surrendered.

Having established full sovereignty in the region, Azerbaijan then urged the Armenian population in Karabakh to become part of Azerbaijani society.

Turning to the Black Sea region, Guler said: "We believe that turning the Black Sea into an area of ​​strategic competition and further escalation of tension should be avoided."