Turkey's parliament speaker hails ties with Azerbaijan

By Ruslan Rehimov

BAKU, Azerbaijan

Turkey’s Parliament Speaker Binali Yildirim on Friday said constructive, steady and stable cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey sets a good example to the world.

“There is an urgent need to reduce the tension in the world. The constructive, steady and stable cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey are good examples in this regard,” Yildirim said at the centennial celebrations of the establishment of Azerbaijani National Council in capital Baku.

“The development of Azerbaijan -- led by the deceased founder Heydar Aliyev and under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev -- is a major contributor to the peace and stability of the Caucasus region.”

Yildirim also recalled the 1992 Khojaly Massacre that killed hundreds of Azerbaijani citizens.

“Armenia must be withdrawn from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan without any conditions, including Upper Karabakh. These lands belong to Azerbaijan,” Yildirim said.

The Khojaly Massacre is regarded as one of the bloodiest and most controversial incidents of the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan for control of the now-occupied Upper Karabakh region.

On the heels of the Soviet Union's dissolution, Armenian forces took over the town of Khojaly in Karabakh on Feb. 26, 1992, after battering it with heavy artillery and tanks, assisted by an infantry regiment.

The two-hour offensive killed 613 Azerbaijani citizens, including 116 women and 63 children, and critically injured 487 others, according to Azerbaijani figures. Also, 150 of the 1,275 Azerbaijanis that the Armenians captured during the massacre remain missing.

Yildirim went on to say the Caucasian Islamic Army protected the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in 1918 and broke ground for the country’s independence in 1991.

“Turkey has sided with Azerbaijan in every period of history. It has supported Azerbaijan to gain independence, even in those years when Turkey was fighting its own war of independence,” he added.