Fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces continued in recent days with a ceasefire seeming unlikely on Tuesday, despite calls from the international community. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu openly questioned the usefulness of a ceasefire as he visited Baku, hitting out at foreign actors: "The international community once again calls for a ceasefire. What will happen afterwards, will Armenia be led to withdraw immediately from Azerbaijani territories?" His visit came after Paris, Moscow and Washington, mediators in the region since the 1990s, the day before described the flare-up of violence as "an unacceptable threat to the stability of the region". The three countries chair the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which, since 1992, has aimed to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. In a statement to Euronews, spokeswoman for Armenia's foreign affairs ministry, Anna Naghdalyan, labeled Turkey "the instigator of this large-scale violence in our region" and said it was "directly involved in planning and implementing military plans of Azerbaijan". "Turkey is encouraging Azerbaijan not to comply with the calls of the OSCE Minsk Group co-Chairs and cease hostilities. The current visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister serves this purpose," she said. While Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense said in a statement that during a meeting of security services "the current situation in the counter-offensive operation was analyzed and instructions were given to continue the planned, purposeful, and consistent destruction of the enemy forces. "The Minister of Defence instructed the troops to take vital important and necessary activities in the liberated territories." — Euronews
