Biden calls on Turkey to stay away from Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

<p style="text-align: left;">Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. senator Joe Biden in a tweet message on Tuesday said Turkey should &amp;ldquo;stay out of&amp;rdquo; the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Quoting a statement from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calling on Armenia to withdraw from what he called Azerbaijan&rsquo;s lands, Biden urged U.S. President Donald J. Trump to &ldquo;call the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan immediately to de-escalate the situation.&rdquo;

With casualties rapidly mounting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, the Trump Administration needs to call the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan immediately to de-escalate the situation. It must also demand others &mdash; like Turkey &mdash; stay out of this conflict, Biden said in a Tweet message.

On the third day of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over provocations at the border near the Nagorno-Karabakh region that both countries have alleged to have been started by the other, an Azerbaijani air strike hit a bus in Armenia&rsquo;s southeastern region of Vardenis on Tuesday, killing one civilian, the Armenian government said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry said the Armenian army shelled Azerbaijan's northwestern Dashkesen region on the border between the two countries, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Dashkesen is miles away from Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia denied the statement.

The incidents risk escalating and expanding the already heavy fighting between the Azerbaijani military and Armenian separatists in the breakaway state of Nagorno-Karabakh into a greater conflict. Turkey and Azerbaijan are close political and military allies.

Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said the Vardenis air strike was carried out by a Turkish-made drone. The act would &ldquo;receive adequate military and political response&rdquo;, he said on Twitter.

Armenia and the Karabakh government accuse Turkey of actively supporting Azerbaijani forces by deploying F-16 fighter jets to the country and Syrian mercenaries in the clashes.

Reporter&rsquo;s code: 50101

News Code 138587

Your Comment

You are replying to: .
captcha