Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday held a joint press conference with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during his visit to Azerbaijan.
''The city of Shusha was under occupation for 28 years, but it never lost its national spirit. The brotherly Turkish people have always stood by our side. Your statement demonstrated to the entire world that Türkiye stands with its brotherly nation, Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan will never forget this. The Azerbaijani people are grateful to the Turkish people.
Throughout the 44 days of the Second Karabakh War, President Erdoğan and the brotherly Turkish people stood by our side. This will never be forgotten.
The unity between Türkiye and Azerbaijan is eternal and unshakable. Those who seek to drive a wedge between us will never succeed. The peoples of Türkiye and Azerbaijan are brotherly nations, and there are no other two peoples or countries as close to one another as ours.''
''Six years ago, the Azerbaijani people, through great heroism, liberated Karabakh. Relations between Türkiye and Azerbaijan have reached their current advanced level after passing through various stages of history.
This unity of hearts, which we describe with the motto 'One Nation, Two States', is an everlasting torch that draws strength from our shared past and illuminates our future.
Our brotherhood goes far beyond a shared language, history and culture. This is why we regard Baku's joy as Ankara's joy and Shusha's pride as the pride of our entire nation.
Azerbaijan's liberation of its territories from occupation through the 44-day Patriotic War opened the door to a new era in the South Caucasus.
Those who seek to weaken the brotherhood we reinforced through an alliance with the declaration we signed in Shusha on June 15, 2021, will never achieve their aims—not yesterday, today or tomorrow.
We are also working with all our might to establish this vision throughout the Turkic world.
We are following Azerbaijan's efforts to rebuild Karabakh. The heritage being restored demonstrates the Azerbaijani people's confidence in the future. We will continue to contribute to reconstruction and development efforts.
The victory won on the battlefield must be crowned with lasting peace.''
