Waited for Minsk Group- Waited for UNSC -Now Lets End the Enmity ; President Azerbaijan

Baku, December 10, AZERTAC Following the ceremony of signing documents, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan have made press statements.

Statement of President Ilham Aliyev

My dear Brother, dear President.

I cordially welcome you to Azerbaijan again. Welcome!

It is a very significant and important day in the history of Turkey and Azerbaijan today. Watching the Victory parade together today, we congratulated each other. We congratulated our peoples on the Victory. This historic Victory is the embodiment of our unity. Turkey and its President provided support to Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people from the first hours of the war. His statements were very valuable for the Azerbaijani people.

At the same time, they became a message to the whole world that Azerbaijan is not alone, that no-one should interfere with Azerbaijan’s affairs, that Azerbaijan is waging a just and Patriotic war, and Turkey stands by it. This message was essentially the personification of solidarity. It showed that Azerbaijan is right in this just war. We have restored historical justice. We have put an end to the occupation that lasted for many years. Fraternal Turkey was next to us, which inspired us even more and gave us additional strength. Using this strength, we liberated our historical lands from the occupiers.

Every time I met with my dear Brother or visited fraternal Turkey, I said that there were no countries in the world that would be as close to each other as Turkey and Azerbaijan. And this is true. If we look at the world map today, we can see that there are no countries that would be so attached to each other, that would always be so close to each other as we are. We are bound by a common history, religion, culture, language, literature, as well as our policies. Turkey and Azerbaijan are countries pursuing an independent policy on a global scale.

Turkey’s strength multiplies ours. Today, thanks to the leadership of my dear Brother, Turkey has become a powerhouse on a global scale. In many countries around the world, Turkey defends truth and justice. Turkey protects the interests of oppressed peoples and restores justice and international law.

Erdogan’s Turkey today is an example for the whole world, an example of independence, perseverance, courage and development. Several documents signed today will provide Azerbaijan with the products of Turkey’s developed industry. The documents signed today hold a humble place among the documents signed in recent years.

The famous “Bayraktar”, a product of the Turkish defense industry, has brought about great changes and played an exceptional role in our success. The whole world once again became a witness of the intelligence and talent of the Turkish people, was further convinced that Turkey has a developed industry.

It is a historic day today because Turkish and Azerbaijani soldiers walked shoulder to shoulder along Azadlig Square in this Victory parade. Not only Baku but also all our cities are decorated with the flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan today. This was also the case before. Of course, this took on even broader proportions during the war. These are the feelings coming from people’s hearts. This is an asset we have cherished for centuries. Our advantage is that both peoples and leaders are next to each other, calling each other brothers. At the same time, we are together in all matters. We were together on both difficult and joyful, wonderful days, like today, and this is natural.

Today, the unity of Turkey and Azerbaijan is of great importance not only for our peoples, but also for the region, for the whole world, because our policy is aimed at cooperation and interaction among countries. We are also fully ready for a new era that will begin after this historic Victory.

Today, during our conversation with my dear Brother, we also exchanged views on the period ahead. Our opinions coincide. We must create a new platform for cooperation in the region. First statements have already been made. This can be a multilateral platform. Countries across the region participating in this cooperation platform can only benefit from this.

There is traditional cooperation involving Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia. At the same time, there is cooperation involving Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran. There is cooperation involving Turkey, Russia and Iran. In other words, we can summarize all these cooperation platforms and come up with a single platform.

If the Armenian leadership draws the right conclusions from the war, renounces its unfounded claims and looks ahead, then they can also take a place on this platform. We are open to this.

The position of Azerbaijan after the war and our statements give reason to say this. We must turn this page over, we must end the enmity. We did not start this. We simply waited for support from international organizations for 30 years, waited for support from three Minsk Group co-chairs. We waited for UN Security Council resolutions adopted to be implemented. But that didn’t happen.

The neither-war-nor-peace situation simply continued, the status quo continued. We changed this status quo by military means, expelled the enemy from our lands, dealt them a tangible blow, destroyed their army and their main ideological pillars. But what did we do after that? After that, we said that we were ready to cooperate. By creating a new format of cooperation, we can reduce the future risk of war in the region to zero.

Today, also looking to the future, we express our thoughts on the development of the liberated lands. Karabakh will become one of the most beautiful regions in the world. I am confident that with the help of our Turkish brothers, we will achieve this. We have already talked about specific projects – road, rail, infrastructure projects – today. Turkish and Azerbaijani companies will jointly participate in all these projects. Their implementation in a short time will breathe a new life into the region.

Once again, on behalf of all the Azerbaijani people and on my own behalf, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the fraternal Turkish people.

These days Turkey has been showing tremendous support and solidarity with us. And not only politicians but also all the ministers headed by the President, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, as well as public activists, media representatives. Risking their lives, they prepared reports from the combat zone day and night, and it was thanks to these reports that the world learned about the events taking place.

I want to convey my greetings and deep gratitude to our brothers and sisters in Turkey – they rejoiced in our Victory as much as we do. We are together! This is the case today and it will be the case tomorrow and beyond. Turkish-Azerbaijani unity is indestructible and eternal!

Welcome again, dear Brother. Welcome to your homeland. We love you with all our hearts. The Azerbaijani people showed you their love on the streets today. We have agreed, Inshallah, to go to Shusha together after the new highway is built there by Turkish companies.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Inshallah.