Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Wednesday he will visit
Azerbaijan to celebrate the victory over
Armenia in a brief war last year, touring a region liberated from occupying Yerevan forces in
Upper-Karabakh.
With his Azerbaijani counterpart
Ilham Aliyev, Erdoğan said that they would visit the city of
Shusha, the country's cultural capital.
"The
liberation of the occupied lands of friendly and brotherly
Azerbaijan, with the support of our country, gave a chance to usher in a new era to all parties in the region, especially Armenia," Erdoğan said, referring to the
44-day conflict last fall between the two countries over
Nagorno-Karabakh.
"It is our hope that this opportunity is not squandered and it will be utilized in the best way possible for regional peace and stability. Turkey plans to step up our efforts to develop a common ground for dialogue in the coming days," " the Turkish leader added.
Next Wednesday Erdoğan and Aliyev are also slated to watch th
e Turkish National Football Team's match against Wales as part of EURO 2020 in the
Olympic Stadium in Baku,
Azerbaijan's capital.
The liberation of
Shusha-known as the pearl of Karabakh last November led to the
recognition of defeat in the conflict by Armenian Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinyan, as well as the cessation of hostilities between the two countries.
