Following recent diplomatic tensions between Türkiye and Azerbaijan, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan traveled to Baku to attend the November 8 Victory Day celebrations. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev welcomed Erdoğan at the airport. Following the welcoming ceremony, the two leaders walked arm-in-arm, chatting with each other.
Accompanying Erdoğan on his visit were his wife, Emine Erdoğan; Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan; Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı; National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Director İbrahim Kalın; Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran; Presidential Chief Advisor on Foreign Policy and Security Akif Çağatay Kılıç; AKP Deputy Chairman Kürşad Zorlu; and Binali Yıldırım, Chairman of the Council of Elders of the Organization of Turkic States.
Following their bilateral meeting, Erdoğan and Aliyev held a joint press conference. Azerbaijani President Aliyev declared, “The Turkey-Azerbaijan alliance is eternal and unshakable.”
Referring to the Second Karabakh War of 2020, Aliyev stated: “For 44 days, you (President Erdoğan) and the brotherly Turkish people stood by our side. This will never be forgotten.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made the following remarks at the press conference:
“Relations between Türkiye and Azerbaijan have reached their current advanced level after passing through various tests throughout history. This bond of hearts, which we describe with the motto ‘One nation, two states,’ is an everlasting torch that draws its strength from our shared past and illuminates our future. Azerbaijan's 44-day Patriotic War opened the door to a new era in the South Caucasus. Those who seek to weaken the brotherhood we strengthened through the alliance established by the declaration we signed in Shusha on June 15, 2021, will never achieve their goals—neither yesterday, nor today, nor tomorrow.”
