Erdoğan Joins Azerbaijan's Victory Day in Shusha: He and Aliyev Call Türkiye-Azerbaijan Unity "Eternal and Unshakable"
SHUSHA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in Azerbaijan on November 8 for the country's Victory Day commemorations. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev welcomed him at Fuzuli International Airport; the two leaders then held a one-on-one meeting in Shusha, delivered joint press statements, and laid wreaths together at the Victory Monument in Khankendi. In his statement, Aliyev said the unity and brotherhood between Türkiye and Azerbaijan are "eternal and unshakable," and that those who want to shake them will never achieve their desires. Erdoğan said those seeking to weaken the brotherhood between the two countries would fail, and that the relationship has stood the test of time.
The visit came after weeks of tension between the two close allies over a headscarf dispute. In September, Azerbaijan revised its school uniform rules to prohibit additional clothing deemed incompatible with the secular character of state education, a move widely seen as restricting Islamic headscarves for students and teachers. The decision drew criticism from figures in Türkiye's ruling party; Erdoğan dismissed his adviser Oktay Saral after Saral publicly criticised Baku's decision, Azerbaijani officials warned against outside interference in their affairs, and Aliyev later skipped a summit of Turkic states in Ankara. Speaking to reporters aboard his return flight from South Korea on November 5, Erdoğan said he believed the two countries' ties could overcome all obstacles, and that he planned to visit Azerbaijan on November 8 for Victory Day, hoping the visit would provide an opportunity to take the necessary steps.
Victory Day marks the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, in which Azerbaijan's army retook large areas over 44 days; Shusha was retaken on November 8, shortly before a ceasefire. On June 15, 2021, the two countries signed the Shusha Declaration in the same city, elevating their relations to an alliance. Erdoğan said in his statement that Azerbaijan's victory had opened a new chapter in the history of the South Caucasus and that the task now is to crown the battlefield victory with lasting peace and stability. Aliyev said he hoped the normalisation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia would yield concrete results.
(Source: AZERTAC)
Source: AZERTAC
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：土耳其总统埃尔多安（资料图，2023年摄于安卡拉）。照片：阿塞拜疆总统新闻局，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (file photo, Ankara, 2023). Photo: Press Service of the President of Azerbaijan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
