Armenia's withdrawal only solution to Upper Karabakh issue: Turkish FM Çavuşoğlu

The Upper Karabakh dispute can only be solved with the withdrawal of Armenia from Azerbaijani territories, Turkey's top diplomat said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the news conference in Ankara following his visit to Khazar Ibrahim, Azerbaijan's ambassador to Turkey, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu reiterated Turkey's full support to Azerbaijan.

"We, as Turkey, always stand with brotherly Azerbaijan as they always side with Turkey," he said, adding that they are determined to solve the dispute completely.

Referring to international organizations' decisions on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Çavuşoğlu criticized the parties including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) over taking no concrete steps towards solving the problem.

Border clashes broke out early Sunday when Armenian forces targeted Azerbaijani civilian settlements and military positions, leading to casualties.

Azerbaijan's parliament declared a state of war in some of its cities and regions following Armenia's border violations and attacks in the occupied region.

Azerbaijan declared partial military mobilization on the second day of the clashes.

UPPER KARABAKH CONFLICT

Relations between the two former Soviet nations have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.

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.