Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan joined Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Shusha on Sunday for Azerbaijan’s Victory Day, using the occasion to reaffirm the alliance after weeks of public friction between Ankara and Baku.
The two leaders addressed the media after private talks in the Karabakh city. Aliyev called their countries’ unity “eternal and unshakable”, while Erdoğan invoked the familiar motto “One nation, two states”. Their appearance together came nine days after Aliyev stayed away from a summit of Turkic leaders hosted by Erdoğan in Ankara.
‘Baku’s joy as Ankara’s joy’
Aliyev welcomed Erdoğan as his “dear brother” and recalled the Turkish president’s call in the opening hours of the 2020 war with Armenia. He said Türkiye’s support throughout the 44 days had bolstered Azerbaijani morale and that Erdoğan’s presence in Shusha showed the two countries still stood together.
Erdoğan said the relationship went beyond a shared language, history and culture. “That is why we regard Baku’s joy as Ankara’s joy, and the pride of Shusha as the pride of our entire nation,” he said.
Both presidents pointed to the Shusha Declaration, signed in the same city in June 2021, which formalised the alliance and committed the two countries to come to each other’s aid in the event of a threat or attack by another state. Aliyev said Sunday’s talks covered investment, energy and transport, including the proposed Zangezur route linking mainland Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenia.
Erdoğan pledged continued Turkish support for reconstruction in Karabakh and said he hoped to return next year to open a school in Aghdam with Aliyev. He also called for lasting peace in the South Caucasus. Aliyev said he hoped for progress with Armenia, which initialled a peace agreement with Azerbaijan in August 2025. The treaty still awaits formal signature.
From Ankara to Shusha
The strains surfaced in September after Azerbaijan tightened its school uniform rules, effectively barring Islamic headscarves in classrooms. The policy drew criticism from figures in Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), and Baku objected to what it regarded as interference in its domestic affairs. Azerbaijan’s close ties with Israel have also been a source of friction amid Ankara’s criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
Erdoğan dismissed presidential adviser Oktay Saral after he publicly criticised the headscarf restrictions. Aliyev then missed the 30 October Organisation of Turkic States summit despite a personal invitation from Erdoğan. Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov represented Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijani media attributed Aliyev’s absence to prior commitments.
Sunday’s joint statements left the headscarf rules and relations with Israel unaddressed. The leaders chose instead to recall the episode that had brought their countries closer. Victory Day marks Azerbaijan’s recapture of Shusha on 8 November 2020, shortly before a Russian-brokered ceasefire ended the fighting.
After their talks, Erdoğan and Aliyev posed together at Shusha Fortress, visited the Khojaly memorial and laid wreaths at the Victory Monument in Khankendi.
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