President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Thursday jointly inaugurated a new airport in an area liberated from illegal Armenian occupation.
Erdoğan is the first foreign head of state to land at the Zangilan International Airport, Azerbaijan's second airport in territories reclaimed from Armenia during the 2020 Karabakh War.
In October 2021, Erdoğan joined Aliyev in the official opening of the Fuzuli International Airport.
The symbolic keys of the new airport were presented to Erdoğan and Aliyev, who cut the opening ribbon of the new complex.
The two leaders then toured the airport building and received information from authorities.
During Erdoğan's one-day working visit, the presidents will also break ground for new projects for the development of the region.
Earlier in the day, Erdoğan participated in the opening of Dost Agropark smart agricultural village project in Zangilan.
The leaders will later hold talks to discuss bilateral relations between Türkiye and Azerbaijan, and steps to enhance cooperation. They will also exchange views on current regional and global developments.
Earlier this month, Erdoğan, Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian had a brief conversation ahead of the European Political Community summit in the Czech capital, Prague.
Following the meeting, Erdoğan said Ankara wants to improve ties between the three countries and resolve outstanding issues.
Erdoğan, during his visit to Zangilan was accompanied by Deputy Speaker of the Turkish Parliament Celal Adan, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Vahit Kirişci, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu, ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairperson Binali Yıldırım, AK Party Deputy Chairperson and Party Spokesperson Ömer Çelik, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun and Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın.
Zangilan Airport, the foundation of which was laid by Aliyev on April 26, 2021, became able to accept planes in 1.5 years in accordance with the highest international standards. The first technical flight to the airport with the country's largest passenger plane was carried out on Sept. 9.
The runway of the airport is 3,000 meters (9,842.52 feet) long and 60 meters wide. Its terminal has the capacity to serve 200 passengers per hour. All wide-body aircraft, including large cargo aircraft, will be able to land and take off easily at Zangilan Airport. The platform of the airport was designed to accept eight aircraft.
Turkish companies also took part in the construction of the airport, which is equipped with automatic systems and has a control tower in compliance with international civil aviation and transportation standards.
With the decree signed by Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov on Oct. 14, it was decided to give Zangilan Airport "international airport" status and to send information to relevant international organizations on this issue. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has included the airport in the list of international airports with the code ZZE.
Fuzuli Airport in the regions liberated from occupation, meanwhile, continues its activities.
The Azerbaijani government is also planning to build an airport in Lachin.
Zangilan is located in Azerbaijan’s recently liberated Karabakh.
The Azerbaijani government's efforts to reconstruct and rejuvenate the liberated regions are in full swing, facilitating families to gradually return to their villages.
Aliyev had for years promised to retake lands lost in the 1990s and the first returns marked a symbolic moment for Azerbaijan.
In the autumn of 2020, Azerbaijan and Armenia went to war for the second time in Karabakh.
During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and around 300 settlements and villages that had been illegally occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.
The fighting ended with a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020, which was seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia.
In January 2021, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a pact to develop economic ties and infrastructure to benefit the entire region. It also included the establishment of a trilateral working group in Karabakh.
After the conflict ended, Azerbaijan launched a massive reconstruction initiative in the liberated Karabakh region.
In July, Azerbaijan began the process of returning its people to land recaptured from Armenian forces in what Baku calls "The Great Return." The oil-rich country has vowed to repopulate the recaptured lands.