AZE.US
Azerbaijan and Türkiye will jointly resist attempts to weaken their alliance and will deepen coordination within the Organization of Turkic States, Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Sunday.
The leaders spoke at a joint news conference in Shusha after holding one-on-one talks during Erdoğan’s official visit to Azerbaijan, Vesti Baku reports.
Aliyev said Baku and Ankara would not allow third parties to interfere in their relationship or pursue interests designed to undermine unity between the two countries.
He connected the current level of bilateral ties to the Shusha Declaration signed in 2021, which formally established an allied relationship between Azerbaijan and Türkiye.
Shared Position in Shusha
Erdoğan likewise said efforts to weaken the Azerbaijani-Turkish partnership would not succeed. He said Ankara regarded the achievements of Azerbaijan and Shusha as shared successes.
The Turkish president described the current position of the Organization of Turkic States as the result of joint political will and said both countries would continue working to strengthen unity across the Turkic world.
The leaders used the Shusha meeting to reaffirm their alliance, political solidarity and coordinated approach to foreign policy.
Visit on Victory Day
Aliyev thanked Erdoğan for the moral and political support Türkiye provided to Azerbaijan during the 44-day war in 2020. He noted that the Shusha Declaration was signed seven months after the fighting ended.
Erdoğan arrived in Azerbaijan on Nov. 8 and was formally welcomed in Shusha before the two presidents held their private meeting and delivered press statements.
The meeting followed Aliyev’s Victory Day address, in which the Azerbaijani president discussed reconstruction in the territories retaken by Azerbaijan, national security and plans for a Victory Museum in Khankendi.