Turkey demands Armenia 'ends its occupation of Azerbaijan' amid re-ignited Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

"Armenia must stop its attacks immediately and send back the mercenaries and terrorists they brought from abroad," Akar told Anadolu Agency.

Akar's comments come a day after Turkish Erdogan vowed complete support for Baku and called on Armenia to give up its "aggression" after heavy fighting erupted in Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The Turkish people will support our Azerbaijani brothers with all our means as always," Erdogan said in a tweet.

He accused Armenia of "being the biggest threat in the region to peace and stability" and criticised the international community for failing to give the "necessary and sufficient reaction" to Armenia's "aggression".

Erdogan also said he held a phone call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during which he was "witness once again to his shrewd and determined position".

The worst clashes since 2016 broke out on Sunday between arch-foes Azerbaijan and Armenia who have been locked for decades over a territorial dispute in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Turkey is a key ally of Baku with close cultural and linguistic ties with Azerbaijan. 

Ankara has no diplomatic relations with Yerevan due to a dispute over the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire which Yerevan says is a genocide.