STEPANAKERT: Turkey called Tuesday for the world to back Azerbaijan in the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region and downplayed the need for a ceasefire as fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces raged for a tenth day.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments during a visit to Azerbaijan, after Russia, the United States and France on Monday called for an “unconditional” halt to the fighting.

Fierce clashes that erupted on September 27 between Armenian-backed separatists and Azerbaijani forces over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region have claimed nearly 300 lives and show no sign of letting up, with both sides vowing to continue the fight. Western powers are urging Turkey, a longstanding ally of Azerbaijan, to use its influence with Baku to restore calm, but Cavusoglu instead said world leaders should throw their weight behind Azerbaijan.

“To put these two countries on equal footing means rewarding the occupier,” the Turkish foreign minister said. “The world must be on the side of those who are right, namely on the side of Azerbaijan.”

The territorial dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh dates back to the 1990s when the ethnic-Armenian enclave broke away from Azerbaijan, sparking a brutal conflict that has never been fully resolved.

Neither side has shown any inclination to slow the recent hostilities despite mounting civilian deaths. Cavusoglu dismissed international calls for a ceasefire, saying: “They have been making the same call for nearly 30 years”.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told journalists after a meeting with Cavusoglu that there was no hope of a ceasefire until Armenian troops withdraw from Karabakh.

“Armenian armed forces must leave Azerbaijan’s occupied territories,” he said. “We will be fighting until the end.”

Azerbaijan’s defence ministry and Karabakh’s foreign ministry both said fighting was continuing on several fronts on Tuesday morning.