Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was in Türkiye for a working visit on Monday, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who often boasts about his “brotherly” friendship with Aliyev, welcoming him at the Esenboğa Airport in the capital Ankara before the two leaders left for Presidential Complex for a meeting.
No news conference was scheduled after the meeting, the second since Aliyev secured another term as president in February.
Erdoğan expressed his appreciation for Azerbaijan's reconstruction and development efforts in areas recently liberated from decades of Armenian occupation. He also emphasized Türkiye's monitoring of the process for the withdrawal of Russian peacekeeping forces from Karabakh, a region liberated by Azerbaijan in 2020-2023.
Regarding the ongoing Israeli atrocities in Gaza and other Palestinian territories, Erdoğan highlighted the need for international pressure on Israel to address these crimes. He reaffirmed that a lasting solution lies in the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Erdoğan also welcomed the decision to establish a Parliamentary Friendship Group between Azerbaijan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Inviting TRNC President Ersin Tatar to the Turkic Council Summit meeting in Shusha, Azerbaijan this July would "strengthen the Cyprus cause" of the Turkish Cypriot people, he said.
The president also expressed gratitude to Aliyev for inviting Türkiye to the COP29 U.N. climate change summit set to be hosted in the Azerbaijani capital Baku this November.
Türkiye pledged full support for the summit preparations and highlighted the importance of the Zero Waste Project, initiated by first lady Emine Erdoğan, at the summit.
Having upgraded relations to the level of strategic partnership with the 2021 Shusha Declaration, Ankara and Baku have hailed recent years as a "historic peak" in their relations, with sturdy cooperation deals in almost all fields, from politics to trade and military to defense.
In a statement regarding the visit, the Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications said Erdoğan and Aliyev would discuss bilateral relations and steps to enhance the existing cooperation between the countries. Aliyev and Erdoğan are also expected to exchange views on regional and global issues.
Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, chief presidential adviser on foreign policy and security Akif Çağatay Kılıç and Justice and Development Party (AK Party) spokesperson Ömer Çelik accompanied Erdoğan to the meeting at the airport.
Media outlets reported that the two leaders’ meeting will also focus on increasing trade volume between the two countries to $15 billion (TL 486.33 billion) from around $7.5 billion, as well as diversification of Turkish defense exports to Azerbaijan and more military training for Azerbaijani security forces. The leaders will also discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict and reactivating the Black Sea grain corridor.
Türkiye is a major defense exporter to Azerbaijan, particularly the Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles (UCAVs). The Turkish and Azerbaijani armies are also in close cooperation in training and security cooperation. Last year, the armies of the two countries held their first joint military exercise since Azerbaijan took back the territory of Karabakh from Armenia after years of conflict.
Türkiye has been a major supporter of Azerbaijan against Armenia in its conflict, offering political support for its rightful claims to the territory. After the Karabakh victory of Azerbaijan, it also joined Baku to champion peace talks with Yerevan and in attempts to normalize its own relations with Armenia derailed due to Armenia’s capture of Azerbaijani territories in the 1990s.
Baku established full constitutional order in Karabakh after a lightning September offensive against the last Armenian separatists in the region, who laid down arms and surrendered. Aliyev's recent landslide election win has been attributed to his victory in the liberated territory.
