President hails senior Turkish officials' visit to Azerbaijan on Shusha's liberation day [UPDATE]

By Vafa Ismayilova

President Ilham Aliyev has highly evaluated senior Turkish officials’ visit to Azerbaijan on a historic day of liberation of Shusha city from the occupation of Armenian armed forces, Azertag has reported.

On 8 November, Aliyev received Turkish Foreign Minster Mevlut Cavusoglu and Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and welcomed their visit as a sign of another manisfestation of brotherhood.

“As you know, it is a very important day for our people today, it is a historic day. Today is the day of 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 in both good days and difficult times. This event once again shows how close our peoples are to each other, how close Turkey and Azerbaijan are to each other,” Aliyev said.

He reiterated his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s repeated support for Azerbaijan over the past month and beyond, which gave Azerbaijan “additional strength by providing political and moral support with his open statements”.

“At the same time, you, dear Minister of Defence, 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 important role in resolving this conflict,” he said.

The president thanked the Turkish officials for visiting Azerbaijan to celebrate “the liberation of our cities and villages from occupation and the liberation of Shusha, the ancient city of Azerbaijan, which is, of course, a historic event”.

“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!” Aliyev concluded.

In turn, Mevlut Cavusoglu said: “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 cordially 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 heroic army on these difficult days, especially in the face of the missiles fired by Armenia."

He conveyed Erdogan’s greetings to Aliyev and congratulated the Azerbaijani people on a significant day – Flag Day.

Shusha, which was occupied by Armenian forces on May 8, 1992, has critical importance in liberating Nagorno-Karabakh, which is an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan. It is located on the road to Khankendi, the region's largest city.

Besides its strategic importance, Shusha is known as one of the symbols of Azerbaijani history and culture. Many prominent Azerbaijani musicians and scholars were born here.

Since the counter-offensive operations began on September 27, the Azerbaijani army liberated four city centres, three settlements and over 220 villages, as well as some strategic heights from the occupation of Armenian forces.

Ninety-two Azerbaijani civilians have been killed and hundreds of others have been injured in Armenia's indiscriminate missile attacks on Azerbaijani civilian settlements and cities since September 27.

About 20 per cent of Azerbaijan's territory – including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions – has been under Armenian occupation for nearly three decades.

Four UN Security Council resolutions urge unconditional withdrawal of the invading forces from the occupied territories.