Turkey was vocal in its support for Azerbaijan during clashes in April 2016 in Nagorno Karabakh, the European Commission said in its Turkey 2016 Report.

Azerbaijan on April 2 unleashed an overt military offensive against Karabakh, which claimed hundreds of lives on both sides. The parties reached an agreement on cessation of hostilities on April 5.

The 2009 protocols on normalisation of relations with Armenia are not yet ratified, the Commission went on to say.

"The Armenian Patriarchate’s proposal to open a university department for Armenian language and clergy has been pending for several years. Similar demands have been made by different Christian communities who sought to train clergy. Similar problems exist over the construction of places of worship. Hate speech and hate crimes against Christians and Jews continued to be repeatedly reported (minorities). Inter-religious dialogue remains an important element in this area," the report said.

"Hate speech and threats directed against minorities remained a serious problem and long delays in cases where religious representatives or their property were attacked amount to impunity."