The OSCE Minsk Group must focus on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Turkish media cited President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying Sept. 17.

Axar.az reports citing Trend.

“The delaying of the settlement of the conflict testifies again to passivity of the OSCE Minsk Group,” the president said.

President Erdogan also stressed that the OSCE Minsk Group has not yet taken effective steps to resolve this conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.