Russia, Turkey talk Azeri-Armenian conflict, agree coordination

Russia says its foreign minister and his Turkish counterpart have addressed the ongoing flare-up between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh, agreeing coordination of their efforts towards stabilization of the situation in the region.

The Russian Foreign Ministry reported that the discussion had taken place on Thursday during a telephone conversation between Sergei Lavrov and Mevlut Cavusoglu.

It said both the officials confirmed "readiness for close coordination of the actions of Russia and Turkey to stabilize the situation with the aim of returning the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to the channel of peaceful talks."

The region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but it has an Armenian population because ethnic Azeris fled the territory in 1992 when separatists seized it in a move supported by Yerevan after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Firefight began between the two sides on Sunday after Armenian separatists began waging battle against Azerbaijani forces. More than 100 have reportedly died amid the situation that is the worst one to afflict the region since the separatist invasion.

Also on Thursday, Moscow's UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya denied that Russia and Turkey backed different sides in the conflict.

Russia is part of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group -- a body also incorporating France and the US -- that has been trying unsuccessfully to resolve the conflict since the war.

The trio has released a statement, calling for “an immediate cessation of hostilities between the relevant military forces.”

Earlier in the day, however, Turkey claimed that the trio could not come up with such a demand for truce in light of the failure of their previous joint efforts.

Turkey's Erdogan says Armenians' withdrawal from Karabakh key to truce

Turkey says ceasefire in the ongoing fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia would only materialize if Armenia withdraws its forces.

"Because America, Russia, and France, called the Minsk Group, have neglected this problem for nearly 30 years, their quest now for a ceasefire is not acceptable," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Ankara is also yet to release an official statement on the contents of the phone call between Lavrov and Cavusoglu.

Erdogan, whose country has vowed to do all in its power in support of Azerbaijan, also said ceasefire in the flare-up would only materialize if Armenia took its forces out of the region. "The way for a lasting ceasefire in this region depends on Armenians' withdrawal from every span of Azerbaijani territory," he said in a televised address.

Armenia back to ‘genocide’-tainted rhetoric

Meanwhile, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan claimed that Turkey was "once again advancing on a genocidal path," alleging that the Turkish military was directly leading an offensive by Azeri forces against ethnic Armenian forces around Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The situation is much more serious (than previous clashes in 2016). It would be more appropriate to compare it with what happened in 1915," Pashinyan alleged in remarks to Le Figaro that the newspaper published late on Thursday.

Armenia says 1.5 million people were massacred, imprisoned, or faced forced deportation by the Ottoman Empire during the WWI.

Ankara denies that “genocide” took place at the time, arguing that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks were killed in a civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers of the time.

"The Turkish state, which continues to deny the past, is once again venturing down a genocidal path," the Armenian official, however, said.

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