Russian President Vladimir Putin at the beginning of his meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on September 29, in Sochi, called the joint Russian-Turkish monitoring centre in the Karabakh conflict zone a guarantee of stability in the South Caucasus.
"The Russian-Turkish ceasefire control centre is actively operating on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. This cooperation is a serious guarantee of stability and coordination of the sides' positions on further steps aimed at reconciliation," the Russian president said.
The joint Russian-Turkish centre for monitoring of the ceasefire and all hostilities in the zone of the Karabakh conflict opened on January 30 in the area of the Kiyamaddinli settlement (Aghdam region). The Centre collects, compiles, and verifies information on the observance of the ceasefire regime and on actions that violate the agreements reached by the parties. The personnel of the joint centre are represented on a parity basis - up to 60 servicemen from each side.
Earlier, the President of Azerbaijan said in an interview that Russian peacekeepers are allowing foreigners to enter Nagorno-Karabakh, despite the ban from the Azerbaijani authorities. Aliyev accused the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs of inaction and announced plans for the development of settlements that are now under the control of Baku.
At the same time, he stressed that such illegal raids are recorded extremely rarely, and Moscow fully recognises Baku's rights to these lands. “But, of course, we would like full respect for our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Aliyev added.
Recall that Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on November 9 signed a joint statement on the complete cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, which began on September 27 and lasted 44 days. Russian peacekeepers are stationed in the conflict region.
