Giresun University International Relations Department Lecturer Prof. Dr. Yalçın Sarıkaya wrote about Azerbaijan's regional and international position and Türkiye-Azerbaijan relations on the sixth anniversary of the Karabakh Victory for AA Analysis.
Exactly 6 years ago, the Azerbaijani army liberated Shusha from occupation. Only a day and a half had passed since, on the night between 9 November and 10 November, Armenia had to accept defeat and sign the ceasefire agreement. Shusha's special place in Azerbaijan's history and culture made the liberation of the city much more important and meaningful. Victory Day was initially determined as November 10, when the ceasefire agreement was signed. However, since this date is the commemoration day of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Türkiye, the Azerbaijani state announced that the official Victory Day will be celebrated on November 8. Thus, by choosing this date, Azerbaijan showed its respect for Türkiye and the importance it attaches to the precious memory of Ataturk.
Following the victory, on December 9-10, 2020, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the military parade held within the scope of the Victory celebrations as the only leader-level guest of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. In June 2021, again in Shusha, the two states took the Strategic Partnership and Mutual Assistance Agreement signed in 2010 to a further stage. That historical moment when the Shusha Declaration was signed is still fresh in our memories. After the victory in 2020, President Erdoğan visited Azerbaijan nine times, and President Aliyev visited Türkiye fourteen times. All these visits took place in full harmony and cooperation and paved the way for fruitful diplomatic contacts. The two states discussed not only their bilateral relations but also many regional issues within the framework of mutual goodwill, respect for sovereignty and understanding of a common future.
Meaning and importance of the visit
President Erdoğan's visit to Shusha with his wife Emine Erdoğan and a large delegation to attend the 6th anniversary celebrations of Azerbaijan's Karabakh Victory is a development that has extremely positive and important outcomes both at the bilateral level and contains meaningful messages for third parties. Shusha is a city that was the center of the historical Karabakh Khanate and the epicenter of Azerbaijan in architecture, music, carpet weaving and poetry. The city, which brought values such as Üzeyir Hacıbeyli, Khan Shuşinski, Bülbül, Molla Penah Vagıf, Hurşudbanu Natevan, Ahmet Ağaoğlu, was declared the cultural capital of Azerbaijan.
The plane carrying President Erdoğan and the Turkish delegation for the visit landed at Fuzuli Airport. The delegation included Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan, Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler and MİT President İbrahim Kalın, as well as many officials with authority on Türkiye's relations with Azerbaijan and the Turkish world. Fuzuli Airport is one of the 3 airports that Azerbaijan built from scratch in Karabakh after the 2020 victory. Azerbaijan's reconstruction activities, restoration of historical monuments, and resettlement of displaced people in Karabakh continue rapidly.
At the Karabakh meeting, which aroused great excitement in the two states, Aliyev said, "Under the leadership of my dear brother Erdoğan, Turkey is a great power on the world scale. Türkiye's political weight is a reality and it makes us happy and gives us strength." While President Erdogan said, "Six years ago, the Azerbaijani people, united under the astute leadership of my brother Ilham, liberated Karabakh again with great heroism." He used the expressions.
These statements are carefully selected and carefully thought-out messages given to those who wish to damage the relations between the two states.
During the leaders' press statement, Aliyev said, "Your telephone conversation with me from the first moment of the war showed to the whole world that brother Turkey is on the side of Azerbaijan. And your statement gave us additional strength and spirit. Your historical words that Azerbaijan is not alone, Turkey is on its side will never be forgotten. The Azerbaijani people know this well and are grateful both to you personally and to brother Turkey. The political and moral support you showed has further raised our spirit." With his sentences, he pointed out both Türkiye's determined stance on the side of Azerbaijan during the Second Karabakh War and Erdoğan's personal role in this stance.
Aliyev's words in the joint press statement also contained other important messages. Aliyev stated that the point reached today with Armenia is very different from the past, that the normalization process continues and the peace agreement was initialed about a year ago, but the final signatures have not been signed yet. Stating that there are certain reasons for this, Aliyev emphasized that the Turkish and Azerbaijani public opinion knows these reasons well.
It seems that both states sincerely desire permanent peace with Armenia, but for this they expect Armenia to first implement some constitutional regulations. In addition, it is not difficult to guess that Yerevan was reminded of its obligations regarding the implementation of the Zengezur Corridor, which connects Nakhchivan and the Azerbaijani mainland, and therefore Turkey and Azerbaijan.
In his speech, Aliyev also emphasized that with the Shusha Declaration signed on June 15, 2021, the relations of Türkiye and Azerbaijan were elevated to the level of alliance, but essentially the two states were allies even without this document. "There are no peoples or states in the world that are as interconnected as we are, and this is our wealth." he added. Again, "our unity is unshakable and those who want to shake it will never achieve their desires." He shared his belief in the continuation of this brotherhood and cooperation in the future with the whole world.
Regional and international position of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan is an important regional power today. It has come a long way in recent years and has established itself as a successful regional state to the whole world. It is an active international actor in a wide area from the Middle East to Europe, from Africa to the Far East. It is the key energy player of the Caspian basin. In addition to Türkiye and Georgia, 12 European states use Azerbaijani natural gas. Some of these countries are states such as Germany, Italy, Austria, Romania and Hungary. Although Azerbaijan is a South Caucasus state, it also participates in the platforms where Turkestan states come together and makes constructive contributions. Ilham Aliyev personally attended the Central Asian Heads of State summit held in Avaza/Turkmenbashi city of Turkmenistan in October 2026, and the previously existing C5+1 format turned into C6 format.
Azerbaijan has also hosted very important international events in the last decade. Among those with a political and diplomatic dimension, we can list the Global Baku Forum, COP29 UN Climate Change Conference, CICA 7th Leaders' Summit, UN World Environment Day Celebrations and World Urban Forum Habitat WUF13. In the sports and cultural field, it has hosted many important events from Formula 1 to Euro 2020, from the UEFA Europa League Final to the World Intercultural Dialogue Forum and Baku Energy Week events.
Azerbaijan is a safe counter shore for Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, the states on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, a gateway to the Turkic world for Turkey, and a reliable partner with which Uzbekistan will walk towards a prosperous future. Azerbaijan's investments in Türkiye, most of which are realized in the energy sector through SOCAR and TANAP, have reached 21 billion dollars. Türkiye, on the other hand, has investments in a wide range of fields, including the reconstruction of Karabakh, including energy, infrastructure, construction, telecommunications, food, textile and banking, with a total value of 17 billion dollars. In addition to the economic field, the two states continue bilateral and multilateral cooperation in almost every field, from culture to internal security, from banking to digitalization, from agriculture to energy.
The coming together of Turkey and Azerbaijan on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the Karabakh Victory left a clear and strong impact on the administrations and societies of the two states, reinforcing the brotherhood and leaving no room for any questions. President Erdoğan concluded his speech at the joint press conference by saying, "As Türkiye and the Turkish nation, we will always continue to be with you, knowing your sorrow as our grief and your joy as our joy." He concluded by referring to the concise statements of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
All these show that the two brother states will lead the creation of basic mechanisms that will strengthen cooperation in the Turkish world, which stands out as an area of peace and stability in the shadow of instabilities coming from the north and south. This cooperation has created a strong sign that they will achieve greater things by contributing to regional prosperity and stability.
