ANKARA, September 19. /TASS/. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Azerbaijan has taken forced measures in Nagorno-Karabakh by launching an anti-terrorist operation.

"Today, on September 19, the Azerbaijani army launched an anti-terrorist operation aimed exclusively against military elements. There were no decisions in response to the legitimate and well-founded concerns that Azerbaijan has continuously expressed for almost three years since the end of the second Karabakh war. Azerbaijan was forced to take measures it deems necessary on its sovereign territory," the ministry said in a statement.

"We believe that ensuring the continuation of the comprehensive negotiation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which has so far been carefully implemented and result-oriented, is the only way to establish peace, security, prosperity and lasting stability in the region," the ministry pointed out.

On September 19, tensions flared up again in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku announced it was launching what it described as "local anti-terrorist measures" and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the region. Yerevan, in turn, said there were no Armenian forces in Karabakh, calling what was happening "an act of large-scale aggression." Residents of the Armenian capital took to the streets to protest outside the Armenian government building, blaming the country’s leadership and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for the situation.