Erdoğan due in Baku for Victory Day, set to meet Aliyev
ANKARA
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to visit Baku on Nov. 8, to participate in the longtime ally's Victory Day celebrations, Azerbaijani media has reported.
Erdoğan is scheduled to meet with Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev to discuss bilateral relations and regional developments.
The ceremony, commemorating Azerbaijan’s success in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, will feature six Turkish F-16 fighter jets, according to Türkiye's Defense Ministry spokesman Zeki Aktürk. Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and other senior command staff will accompany Erdoğan.
As part of the celebration week, Türkiye’s military music unit and Azerbaijan’s state philharmonic orchestra will perform a joint concert on Nov. 7. Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif has also been invited to attend the events.
Victory Day, a public holiday in Azerbaijan, marks the recapture of Shusha during the 2020 conflict. The war ended decades of disputed control over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that had operated with de facto independence until Azerbaijan regained full control in 2023.
The visit comes amid broader regional diplomacy. Azerbaijan and Armenia have recently taken steps toward normalization, highlighted by a White House summit in August where Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed an agreement to end long-standing hostilities.
Türkiye, which closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan, is pursuing a separate normalization process with Yerevan.
In 2021, Ankara and Yerevan relaunched talks and appointed special envoys. Erdoğan hosted Pashinyan in Ankara in June, and Turkish and Armenian delegations held further rounds of discussions in September, including a historic crossing by a Turkish delegation into Armenia via the land border.
Both sides have emphasized building trust, enhancing regional communications and maintaining stability in the South Caucasus.
Türkiye and Azerbaijan are bound by strong ethnic, cultural and historic ties and refer to their relationship as being one between “two states, one nation.”
Türkiye was the first country to recognize Azerbaijan’s independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the two have since forged robust economic ties. It is the main conduit for Azerbaijan’s oil and gas exports, with the ex-Soviet republic becoming a major investor in Türkiye.
Ankara has long vowed to support its longtime ally “on the battlefield or the negotiating table,” if needed. However, the government has denied Armenian claims that it was sending F-16 combat jets to assist Azerbaijani forces in the conflict.
Erdoğan speaks with Libya leader over phone
In the meantime, Erdoğan spoke by phone with Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, prime minister of Libya’s Tripoli-based government, the Communication Directorate has informed.
According to a written statement on Nov. 7, the call addressed Türkiye-Libya relations and regional matters. Erdoğan said Türkiye is closely monitoring the developments in Libya and will continue to do its part to ensure security and stability.
Highlighting the importance of cooperation between Türkiye and Libya in many areas, including energy, the president said the two countries will continue their joint efforts to protect their rights and interests in eastern Mediterranean.
