Turkey on Tuesday welcomed a decision by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to dissolve the Minsk Group, the body created in 1992 to mediate the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Tuesday.
In a statement the Turkish Foreign Ministry called the move “a significant milestone in the peace process” between Baku and Yerevan. The OSCE Ministerial Council formally approved the dissolution on September 1, ending more than three decades of mediation efforts.
The Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, the United States and France, had long been criticized for failing to deliver a durable settlement. Azerbaijan, which regained control of Karabakh in a 2020 war and a 2023 military operation, had pressed for the group’s abolition, arguing it no longer reflected realities on the ground.
The decision followed an August 8 summit at the White House hosted by US President Donald Trump, where Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held talks. Shortly afterward, the foreign ministers of both countries submitted a joint request to the OSCE to dissolve the group.
Armenia has signaled readiness to pursue direct negotiations with Azerbaijan, while critics of the Minsk Group say its framework had been overtaken by events in the region. Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan, said the group’s dissolution would help advance regional peace efforts in the South Caucasus.