President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan welcomed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Monday in an official welcoming ceremony. It is Aliyev's first visit to Türkiye after he was sworn in on Feb. 14 for another term following his election victory. The president arrived in Türkiye late Sunday for a two-day visit.

The two leaders are expected to discuss regional and international matters along with the flourishing relations between the two countries in their meetings. A joint news conference is scheduled for later Monday.

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.

Turkish backing was also significant for Azerbaijan in the Second Karabakh War in 2020 when Baku liberated the border territory from three decades of illegal Armenian occupation in 44 days of clashes that ended with a Russian-brokered peace agreement and opened the door to normalization with its archrival Armenia.

Aliyev's visit is part of a tradition between the two countries whose leaders usually pay their first visit abroad to each other after their election. President Erdoğan traveled to Azerbaijan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in June, shortly after securing another electoral victory in general elections.

Aliyev, who has been Azerbaijan's president since 2003, was reelected for a fifth term in office on Feb. 7 with over 92% of the vote. "The Turkic world is our family," Aliyev told his inauguration ceremony in the capital, Baku. "We must make a joint effort for the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) to become a key global actor and power center. We can achieve this only together."

The OTS is a group of prominent Turkic nations working together for political solidarity and economic cooperation, including Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, with Hungary, Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) holding observer status. Aliyev intends to reinforce the message of unity with the said visit, sources added. He and Erdoğan will discuss Türkiye-Azerbaijan relations, regional and global issues, as well as Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip.

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.

Turkish backing was also significant for Azerbaijan in the Second Karabakh War in 2020 when Baku liberated the border territory from three decades of illegal Armenian occupation in 44 days of clashes that ended with a Russian-brokered peace agreement and opened the door to normalization with its archrival Armenia.

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 landslide election win has been attributed to his victory in the liberated territory.

Türkiye and Azerbaijan are expected to sign a string of deals during Aliyev's visit, including on trade. The two countries seek to expand trade volume from around $7.6 billion (TL 234.6 billion) last year to at least $15 billion. They also seek to improve cooperation in energy, transportation, defense industry and technology. The two countries also aim to improve the capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, providing a vital supply line between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye.