Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan and Türkiye have been and will always support each other

Over the past twenty years, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Türkiye has overcome a truly long path of development and gaining prestige not only in the region but throughout the world. This was stated on March 16 by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, speaking at an extraordinary Summit of the heads of state of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Ankara.

“The world now see the power of Türkiye and recognize the achievements of our brotherly country.” the head of state said.

President Ilham Aliyev assured that Azerbaijan and Türkiye have been and will support each other, both in sorrow and in joy.

The head of the Azerbaijani state recalled the support provided to Azerbaijan by Türkiye in the fall of 2020. “We appreacite the support of Türkiye and President Erdogan during the Second Karabakh War. At the 44-day war, the entire Turkish nation’s heart was with Azerbaijani people” Aliyev stressed.

The President noted that with the signing of the Shusha Declaration in June 2021, the ties between Azerbaijan and Türkiye were officially raised to the level of an alliance.

Ilham Aliyev recalled that the government and people of Azerbaijan mobilized forces to provide humanitarian assistance to fraternal Türkiye as soon as the earthquake occurred,

President of Azerbaijan noted that 940 people were sent to the earthquake zone from Azerbaijan, including rescuers, medical personnel and volunteers. “In terms of the number of rescuers sent to Türkiye, Azerbaijan was the first among the countries of the world. As a result of the efforts of our rescuers and doctors, 53 people were removed from the rubble. The bodies of 780 people were also found under the rubble. Our medical staff has provided medical services to a total of more than 3,000 people,” the president said.

He added that more than $45 million has been transferred to the bank accounts of AFAD and other humanitarian organizations to date. In addition, 5,300 tons of humanitarian aid have been delivered to fraternal Türkiye.

Regarding the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the head of state stressed that although Armenia recognized the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan in Prague and Sochi in 2022, Yerevan still has not completely withdrawn its troops from the territories of Azerbaijan.

“Armenia also evades the obligation to open the Zangezur corridor. Thus, Armenia grossly violates the terms of the Statement of November 10, 2020, and must be held accountable for this,” the head of state stressed.

The President added that after the liberation of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur from the Armenian occupation, Baku is carrying out large-scale restoration work in these territories.

“Azerbaijan is returning life to the vast territories completely destroyed by Armenia. We are rebuilding 9 new cities from scratch and at the first stage – more than 300 villages and towns. This is a unique and unprecedented model of post-conflict reconstruction carried out by the national government with its own financial resources. In 2021-2022, the Azerbaijani state spent about $4 billion on reconstruction work in the liberated territories. And this year we plan to allocate funds in the amount of at least $1.7 billion,” the head of state added.

According to the President, Azerbaijan has launched the Great Return program for the return of former internally displaced persons to their native lands. Turkish companies are actively involved in the recovery process as contractors in many infrastructure projects.

The head of state noted that the value of contracts signed with Turkish companies to date exceeds $3 billion. He also noted that the President of Türkiye visited the liberated lands three times, visiting Shusha, Fizuli, Zangilan and Jabrayil.

President Ilham Aliyev also thanked the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for the school that Uzbekistan is building in the liberated Fuzuli region and the creative center that Kazakhstan is building there.