Tazeen Akhtar | Islamabad
The rumours of a crisis are over. The difference is over.On 8 November, on the occasion of the 6th anniversary of Azerbaijan’s Victory Day, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met in Karabakh, held a one-on-one meeting in Shusha, addressed a joint press conference, visited memorials together, and ended the day with an official banquet in Khankendi.
The message from both leaders was identical:
“The unity of Türkiye and Azerbaijan is eternal and unshakable.”
A Welcome That Was Meant to Be Seen
Erdoğan arrived at Fuzuli International Airport with First Lady Emine Erdoğan and a high-level delegation including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Intelligence Chief İbrahim Kalın, Communications Director Burhanettin Duran, and Organisation of Turkic States official Binali Yıldırım.
He was welcomed personally by President Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva.As Erdoğan stepped off the plane, the two presidents walked arm-in-arm on the green carpet, engaged in warm conversation – a deliberate image of brotherhood, after weeks in which Turkish and Azerbaijani media had spoken of an almost-crisis.
Erdoğan later said he had already held phone talks with Aliyev and had sent his intelligence chief and foreign minister to Baku. Phone diplomacy had continued not only between the presidents, but also between their spouses.
“Our relations with Azerbaijan go far beyond conventional diplomatic contacts. The unbreakable bond between our two countries is the product of our shared history, culture, destiny and, God willing, our future,” Erdoğan said.
“There is no obstacle that the brotherhood between Türkiye and Azerbaijan cannot overcome.”
Why Was There Talk of a Difference?
The visit came amid reported strains in relations between Ankara and Baku over their differing approaches to ties with Israel, as well as concerns in Azerbaijan over a regulatory change affecting students who wear headscarves in schools.
Reports had also said Baku accused several Turkish officials of interfering in its domestic affairs. In remarks to journalists earlier in the week as he was returning from South Korea, Erdoğan had dismissed suggestions of a crisis, emphasising the strength of their longstanding ties.
The 8 November visit was designed to end that speculation publicly – not with a statement from a spokesperson, but with a full day together in Shusha, Khojaly and Khankendi.
Shusha: One-on-One Meeting and Joint Press Conference
After the official welcoming ceremony at the Governor’s Office in Shusha, Aliyev and Erdoğan held a one-on-one meeting, followed by a joint press conference.
“Those who seek to weaken our brotherhood will never achieve their goals, just as they have failed in the past,” Erdoğan said in Shusha. He described the countries’ unity as an “everlasting torch drawing strength from our shared past and lighting the way toward the future.”
Aliyev, in turn, described Türkiye and Azerbaijan as the closest of nations and states:”The unity of Türkiye and Azerbaijan is eternal and unshakable. Those who want to come between us will never succeed.”
Erdoğan visited Karabakh at Aliyev’s invitation as Azerbaijan marked the sixth anniversary of its victory in the 2020 war with Armenia. Azerbaijan later moved its Victory Day commemoration from 10 November to 8 November, the anniversary of the capture of Shusha.
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Khojaly and Khankendi: Memory and Victory Together
The two presidents then visited together:
1. Khojaly Genocide Memorial – to honour the victims of the Armenian atrocities of 1991-1992.2. Victory Monument in Khankendi – where President Aliyev and President Erdoğan laid wreaths at the monument.
The choice of places was symbolic. Khojaly represents shared grief. Khankendi represents shared victory.
The Banquet in Khankendi – The Formal End of the Difference
On the evening of 8 November, an official banquet was hosted in Khankendi on behalf of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, in honour of President Erdoğan and his wife, Emine Erdoğan.
A concert program was presented during the reception. en.apa.azFollowing the reception, President Ilham Aliyev, First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, members of their family, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and First Lady Emine Erdoğan met with representatives of the arts community, as well as heroes of the Patriotic War and servicemen awarded the “Garabagh” and “Zafar” orders.
They also posed together for photographs. Also present was their daughter Leyla Aliyeva, who joined the meeting with the decorated servicemen in Khankendi. The banquet was not just protocol. In Azerbaijani and Turkish diplomatic culture, a family banquet hosted by the president and first lady, with artists and war heroes present, is the strongest public signal that any political difference has been settled.
Erdoğan’s favourite song was also performed during the evening in Khankendi, according to Azerbaijani media coverage of the visit.
What This Means
1. For Türkiye-Azerbaijan: The “two states, one nation” doctrine has been publicly reaffirmed at the highest level, in the very city – Khankendi – that was at the centre of the Karabakh conflict.
2. For the Region: The joint appearance in Shusha and Khankendi sends a message to Armenia, Russia, Iran and Israel that Baku and Ankara will coordinate, not compete, on the South Caucasus, the Zangezur Corridor, energy, and security.
3. For the Turkic World: With COP31 to be held in Türkiye and Aliyev expected to attend, the reconciliation clears the way for a joint Turkic agenda on climate, transport and defence.
The difference, if it ever was a crisis, ended where it was meant to end – not in Ankara or Baku, but in Karabakh, at a table in Khankendi, hosted by Aliyev and Mehriban Aliyeva for Erdoğan and Emine Erdoğan.
