ISTANBUL 

Azerbaijan's anti-terror activities in Karabakh were not related to Armenia or its Prime Minister Pashinyan, but rather to Armenian mobs in the region, Turkish President Erdogan said on Thursday. 

During his visit to New York, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters, "This recent incident (Azerbaijan's anti-terror activities in Karabakh) is not related to Pashinyan. It also has nothing to do with the Armenian state. It is related to Armenian mobs in Karabakh."

"Their attempt to hold a presidential election disturbed both Pashinyan and Azerbaijan significantly. Azerbaijan saw this event as an attempt to ignite an ongoing process. In addition, the attempt to martyr our [Azerbaijani] brothers and sisters took the situation to a completely different level," he added.

"Warnings were issued, but despite all of these warnings, they did not straighten up their act," Erdogan said, adding, "On the contrary, they continued the process. As a result, Azerbaijan took action."

He added that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev thanked him for his speech at the UN General Assembly.

In his speech, the Turkish president emphasized that Karabakh is unequivocally Azerbaijani territory, rejecting any imposition of a different status.

He advocated for peaceful coexistence for all, including Armenians, within Azerbaijan's borders, reaffirming the "one nation, two states" principle and expressing support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

On Tuesday, two people were killed when a truck belonging to an Azerbaijani government institution hit a mine on the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha highway in the Jabrayil region. Four police officers who responded to the scene were also killed when another mine struck their vehicle.

Later, Azerbaijan said it had launched "counter-terrorism" measures in Karabakh to uphold provisions outlined in a trilateral peace agreement with Russia and Armenia to end the 2020 conflict.

On Wednesday morning, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said under the agreement achieved with the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent it decided to halt the counter-terrorism activities.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages, and settlements from Armenian occupation during 44 days of clashes. The war ended with a Russia-brokered cease-fire.