Türkiye urges Armenia to refrain from 'provocative steps' on Lachin road

Ankara "closely" follows the debates on the southern Caucasus’ Lachin road, and expects Armenia to avoid "provocative steps," the Turkish foreign ministry has said.

"Türkiye has been following the longstanding debates on the Lachin road closely and understands Azerbaijan's legitimate concerns on the issue," the ministry said in a statement on Monday.

"Unfortunately, these concerns that Azerbaijan has voiced loudly for a long time were not taken into account, and as a result, Azerbaijan took the measures it deems appropriate within the framework of its sovereign rights," the statement read.

Baku has called on countries and international organisations that have made anti-Azerbaijani statements to respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity, especially concerning developments in Karabakh and the Lachin road, the only land route giving Armenia access to the Karabakh region.

There is no justification for the criticisms against Azerbaijan regarding the Lachin road, Türkiye emphasised in the statement, in that Baku is making "maximum efforts" in good faith with respect to humanitarian considerations, including medical transportation.

Alternative ways

Despite ongoing talks on a peace agreement following a war in 2020, tensions between Baku and Yerevan have risen in recent months concerning the Lachin road, as well as Azerbaijan’s establishment of a border checkpoint on the road.

"Our expectation from Armenia is to avoid provocative steps, to recognise Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty," the foreign ministry said.

Through the statement, Ankara urged Armenia "to support the use of 'Agdam-Khankendi' and other alternative ways to meet the needs of the Armenian population in Karabakh, as well as to support efforts to reintegrate the Armenian population of Azerbaijan."

Türkiye believes that to ensure peace and stability in the region, the territorial integrity, sovereignty and humanitarian efforts of Azerbaijan should be supported and actions that aggravate the situation should be avoided, it added.