Turkish minister: Peace agreement btwn Azerbaijan, Armenia to ensure stability in Caucasus

The peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia will ensure calm and stability in the Caucasus region, Azernews reports that Turkish National Defense Minister Ya?ar Güler said this at the discussion of the 2025 budget of the National Defense Ministry in the plan-budget commission of the parliament.

He stressed the importance of signing a large-scale peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan.

The National Defense Minister also reported on the successes achieved in the fight against terrorism. He noted that within the anti-terrorist operations of the Turkish Armed Forces, 2,654 militants of the organizations banned from operating in the region have been neutralized since the beginning of this year.

According to the minister, the Turkish army has changed its strategy for fighting terrorism in recent years.

"Short-term strikes with a well-defined list of targets have been replaced by large-scale operations without predetermined deadlines. Such a strategy made it possible to deal a strong blow to terrorist organizations, especially the PKK," Y. Güler said, stressing his determination to completely eliminate the threat of terrorism against Turkiye.

The Turkish minister drew attention to the importance of cooperation between the countries of the region in the fight against terrorism and said that concrete steps are being taken in this area based on the agreements reached with the Iraqi government.

As for the situation in Cyprus, Ya?ar Güler noted that Ankara is carefully monitoring "the stability-threatening actions of the Greek community of the island."

The minister added that Turkiye observes "an increase in the activity of foreign countries in the south of Cyprus under the pretext of humanitarian activities".