According to a December 5 report in APA (Azeri Press Agency), Turkey’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Alper Coşkun told reporters in Baku that Azerbaijan was ‘fully capable of liberating its territories from Armenian occupation’. 

Coşkun had been talking to reporters about the role of the OSCE Minsk Group in finding a solution to the Karabakh conflict. 

The Ambassador is reported to have said that “Turkey supports the actions of the Minsk Group co-chairs but that no serious progress has been made in the past twenty years.” 

He added that the current ceasefire must not be regarded as a settlement and that Azerbaijani territory remains “occupied by Armenia”. 

Regarding the much heralded opening of the airport in Stepanakert, Coşkun stressed that the airport is on territory belonging to Azerbaijan.“No country can carry out operations there without the permission of Azerbaijan,” he said.