President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a joint press statement in Shusha on November 8, the sixth anniversary of the city’s liberation. Afterwards, the two leaders visited the Victory Monument in Khankendi and the Khojaly Genocide Memorial.
President Ilham Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Republic of Türkiye delivered a joint press statement in Shusha on November 8, the sixth anniversary of Victory Day. Afterwards, the two leaders laid wreaths at the Victory Monument in Khankendi and toured the Khojaly Genocide Memorial.
The heads of state walked through the four-part memorial complex in Khojaly, built under a decision Ilham Aliyev signed in February 2025 as a project of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation to honour the victims. The exhibition includes documents and materials on the genocide victims, the history of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the 44-day war and the Great Return program. Recep Tayyip Erdogan made an entry in the memorial book, and both leaders laid flower wreaths at the site.
In Khankendi, the presidents also laid wreaths at the Victory Monument.
Key points of the Shusha statements
Following the meeting, both sides addressed the press. Ilham Aliyev noted that Shusha was liberated from Armenian control six years ago, and that Armenia capitulated the following day, ending 30 years of occupation. He recalled that the Azerbaijani Army recaptured more than 300 settlements in just 44 days, with 3,000 servicemen killed during the operations.
He said normalization talks between Baku and Yerevan are continuing, adding that the two sides initialled a peace agreement more than a year ago but have yet to sign it. Aliyev also said the Shusha Declaration had elevated ties between the two states to the level of alliance, stressing that the unity between Türkiye and Azerbaijan would endure.
For his part, Recep Tayyip Erdogan honoured those who lost their lives in the Karabakh battles and wished health to the veterans. He said the document signed in Shusha on June 15, 2021 had further strengthened the allied relations between the two countries. The Turkish leader also mentioned the Azerbaijan-Türkiye International Forestry Training Center and Smart Seedling facility operating in the Jabrayil district, referred to the construction of a 40-room school covering 14,500 square meters in Aghdam, and said he hoped the two countries would jointly attend its opening next year.
