Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is visiting the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan on Monday, stated that "Azerbaijan's victory in the operation launched last week in the Nagorno-Karabakh region opens a window for normalization in the region." Erdoğan expressed hope during a joint press conference with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev after the foundation-laying ceremony for a gas pipeline from Nakhchivan to the Turkish region of Igdır, that Armenia would "take sincere steps to seize this opportunity for stability and peace in the region." He emphasized that Azerbaijan's success in the Karabakh operation is a source of pride for Turkey and congratulated the Azerbaijani army for demonstrating a "sense of responsibility" towards civilians in the area.
For his part, Aliyev expressed confidence in the successful reintegration of Armenians from the Nagorno-Karabakh region into Azerbaijani society and hinted at the possibility of establishing a land corridor between the two countries through Armenia, which opposes the idea. Aliyev added, "Azerbaijani authorities have already begun providing humanitarian aid to the Armenian inhabitants of Karabakh - fuel, food, medicine, and so on. This indicates that individuals living in the Karabakh region, regardless of their ethnicities, are Azerbaijani citizens." He stressed that the Azerbaijani state would ensure the security and rights of the Armenian residents of Karabakh. The Azerbaijani president continued, "Today, the second meeting of representatives from Baku and Karabakh took place. I am confident that the process of reintegrating the Armenians of Karabakh into Azerbaijani society will be successful."
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has arrived in Nakhchivan for a one-day working visit at the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.
