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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave on Monday to meet with his counterpart Ilham Aliyev.
The meeting is a show of support just days after Azerbaijan seized the separatist enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has a majority Armenian population.
A smiling Aliyev kissed Erdogan on both cheeks upon the Turkish leader’s arrival at Nakhchivan International Airport.
Erdogan said the Azerbaijani offensive last week opened a window of opportunity for normalization in the region. he said he hoped Armenia would take “sincere steps” to grab this opportunity for stability.
He was accompanied on his trip by the head of Turkey’s Defense Industry Agency, Haluk Gorgun.
Erdogan and Aliyev to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh
Although the visit was officially organized to launch the construction of a gas pipeline, the two presidents were also due to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh.
Thousands of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh began flowing into Armenia on Monday.
The leaders were also set to discuss the status of the Zangezur corridor — a strip of Armenian territory that separates Nakhichevan from the rest of Azerbaijan. Nakhichevan also shares borders with Turkey and Iran.
Russia welcomes meeting
Erdogan’s visit to close ally Azerbaijan comes as Armenia claims that its own security partner, Russia, did not offer enough support. Moscow “categorically” denied the claims.
Russia welcomed the meeting between Erdogan and Aliyev on Monday.
“We always hope that all meetings held by the president of Azerbaijan, including those with the Turkish president, will serve to normalize life in Nagorno-Karabakh after what happened,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
zc/fb (AFP, Reuters, AP, dpa)
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