'Armenia to surely pay for attacks at Azerbaijan'

ANKARA

Armenia will surely pay for its attacks at Azerbaijani border area, the Turkish defense minister said on Thursday in a meeting with top Azerbaijani military delegation in the capital Ankara.

"[Armenia] will be drowned under the plot they've initiated and will definitely pay for what they've done," Hulusi Akar told Ramiz Tahirov, the Azerbaijani deputy defense minister and the commander of the Military Air Forces.

Earlier on Sunday, the Armenian army attempted to attack Azerbaijani positions with artillery fire in the northwestern Tovuz border region and withdrew after suffering losses following retaliation from the Azerbaijani military.

Recent border clashes with Armenia have resulted in the martyrdom of 11 Azerbaijani soldiers -- including a major general and a colonel -- and injured four.

Akar recalled that Turkey closely follows the border clash developments.

"We strongly condemn the treacherous attack on the Tovuz region of Azerbaijan. The pain of Azerbaijani Turks is our pain. I want all of you to know that any troubles you live there are felt very deeply here."

He also wished "Allah's mercy upon martyrs, and fast recovery to the wounded".

"I would also like to express that we are sure their blood will not be left on the ground," he added.

Akar stressed that the occupation of the Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, without any legal justification and legitimacy, will never be accepted.

The minister reiterated that Turkey and Azerbaijan are "one nation and two states", sharing the common language, religion, and history.

Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan, has been illegally occupied since 1991 through Armenian military aggression.

Four UN Security Council resolutions and two UN General Assembly resolutions as well as decisions by many international organizations refer to this fact and demand the withdrawal of occupational Armenian forces from Upper Karabakh and seven other occupied regions of Azerbaijan.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev in Ankara