Speaking on 28 September 2020 at a symposium on international maritime law, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan broached the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

He recalled that since the dissolution of the USSR – some 30 years ago – the United States, Russia and France (known as the Minsk Group) have been trying in vain to find a solution to the conflict. He then added:

“They have done, so-to-speak, everything in their power not to resolve the issue. And now they are giving advice and, from time to time, even uttering threats. What are those threats? ‘Is Turkey over here, are the Turkish soldiers present over here?’ Those who ask so are the very ones that transfer thousands of truckloads of weapons to our south, particularly to the north of Syria. Those asking so are the very ones that parcel out the north of Syria and build bases there for themselves. Those asking so are the very ones that roam freely with the coalition powers in Syria.”

Acknowledging that hostilities were started by Baku, he continued: “considering that those reponsible for the occupation have not been held to account thus far, Azerbaijan had to take matters into its own hands.”