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Erdogan dealt strong hand against Putin in Azerbaijan-Armenia war

Turkey is taking advantage of Russian dilemmas to claim a role in the Caucasus by backing for Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Armenia.
People display Turkish and Azerbaijan flags on their scooters as they take a tour in the city in solidarity with Azerbaijan called by Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), in Istanbul on October 5, 2020. - Turkey on October 4, 2020 condemned what it said were attacks on civilians by Armenian forces on the Azerbaijani city of Ganja in the conflict over disputed breakaway region Nagorno-Karabakh. The fighting over Karabakh, which broke out into renewed fighting seven days ago, intensified as Armenian
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Turkey is positioning itself as a stakeholder in the prospective settlement process in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, having tipped the balance in favor of its Azeri allies by providing them with military advisers, technical assistance and armed drones.

Eyeing a foothold in the Caucuses, Ankara aims to influence the array of solutions to the conflict, arguing that the current mediators — the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States — have failed to achieve any progress since 1994. Much like a surrogate of the Azeri government, Ankara has conditioned a cease-fire on “Armenia’s withdrawal from the territories it occupies” and questioned the merits of the Minsk Group. Azeri President Ilham Aliyev asserted Oct. 6 that Turkey “should be part of the settlement process” in Nagorno-Karabakh, while praising the efficiency of Turkish drones. 

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