Turkish President Recep Erdogan predicted that the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh will one day return to its ?€?original owner?€? ?€” Azerbaijan, Agence France-Presse reported Monday.
Amid continuing deadly clashes in the region between Armenian separatists and Azerbaijan's forces, Erdogan said his country ?€” which shares close ethnic and cultural ties with Azerbaijan ?€” is ?€?standing side-by-side with our brothers,?€? AFP reported.
?€?This persecution will not continue forever,?€? he was quoted as saying in remarks broadcast on Turkish television. ?€?Karabakh will one day return to its original owner. It will be Azerbaijan's.?€?
Meanwhile, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan warned that his country could officially recognize the region as an independent state if the conflict escalates, Reuters reported Monday.
Azerbaijan has resorted to an ?€?unprecedented provocation along the entire perimeter of the contact line?€? with Nagorno-Karabakh, Sargsyan was quoted as saying at a meeting with ambassadors from nations of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly ethnic-Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, suffered a six-year war that ended in 1994 between Armenia-backed separatists and Azeri forces. Sporadic clashes continued after the 1994 cease-fire.
The worst violence in decades came this weekend, when dozens of people were reportedly killed.