Ilham Aliyev received Turkish Foreign Minister and Minister of National Defense

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu and the country’s Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar.

Welcoming the guests, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Welcome, dear guests!

As you know, it is a significant day for our people today. It is a historic day. Today is the day of the liberation of Shusha. It is particularly important that you are with us on such a day. This is yet another example of brotherhood, yet another manifestation of brotherhood. As always, we are together on both good days and challenging times. This event again shows how close our peoples are to each other and how close Turkey and Azerbaijan are.

The President of Turkey, my dear brother Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly expressed his support for Azerbaijan over the past month and beyond, giving us additional strength by providing political and moral support with his open statements. At the same time, you, dear Minister of Defense, and our other brothers have repeatedly stated your support for Azerbaijan. You mentioned that Turkey stands by Azerbaijan. Of course, these statements, this political and moral support, have also played an essential role in resolving this conflict.

The liberation of our cities and villages from occupation and the liberation of Shusha, the ancient city of Azerbaijan, is, of course, a historic event. We are delighted that you have personally come to Azerbaijan to celebrate this event with us.

Thank you very much again. During this time, the whole world, those who like us and those who don’t, saw that our unity is unshakable and eternal. This will continue to be the case. Thank you again, and welcome!

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said:

- Thank you very much for receiving us, Mr. President. We are always happy to be in Baku and to meet with you. But we are particularly pleased today because the heroic Azerbaijani Army under the leadership of its Commander-in-Chief, Your Excellency, has recaptured the ancient city of Shusha from Armenian occupiers. Thus, we heartily congratulate the heroic Azerbaijani Army, you as the Commander-in-Chief and the fraternal people of Azerbaijan, who stand behind the Commander-in-Chief and his valiant army on these difficult days, especially in the face of the missiles fired by Armenia.

I want to convey the greetings of our esteemed President. We are especially pleased to be here in Baku on such a momentous day – Flag Day.

Thank you for receiving us. Congratulations again, Mr. President!

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much. Please convey my greetings to my dear brother, dear President. As you know, we are always in touch. We spoke on the phone yesterday. So we are always in touch, and these personal ties, these friendly, fraternal ties between us have a positive impact on the relations between our countries. Thank you again.