Erdoğan Considers Azerbaijan Visit on Nov. 8 for Victory Day

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he is considering a visit to Azerbaijan on Nov. 8 for the country’s Victory Day, unless an extraordinary situation arises.

He spoke to journalists aboard the presidential aircraft on Nov. 5 while returning from an official visit to South Korea, answering a question about relations with Azerbaijan and suggestions of a crisis between Ankara and Baku.

“Hopefully, we will have the opportunity to take the necessary steps during this visit,” he said, according to Anadolu Agency’s English rendering of his remarks.

Victory Day Timing

Azerbaijan marks Nov. 8 as Victory Day, commemorating its victory in the 2020 Second Karabakh War. Erdoğan noted that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the commemorations.

The trip would follow an earlier gesture. On Nov. 2, as Erdoğan’s aircraft entered Azerbaijani airspace en route to South Korea, the pilot relayed the president’s congratulations to Ilham Aliyev and the Azerbaijani people on Victory Day.

Diplomatic Channels

Erdoğan said he had already held phone conversations with Aliyev and had sent both his intelligence chief and his foreign minister to Azerbaijan.

Phone diplomacy had continued during this period, he said, both between the two presidents and between their spouses, and those contacts were continuing.

“Our relations with Azerbaijan go far beyond conventional diplomatic contacts. The unbreakable bond between our two countries is the product of our shared history, culture, destiny and, God willing, our future,” he said.

“There is no obstacle that the brotherhood between Türkiye and Azerbaijan cannot overcome,” he added.

Background to the Friction

The crisis question followed weeks of visible strain. Azerbaijan’s restrictions on school uniforms and headscarves in primary and secondary schools drew criticism in Türkiye, Türkiye Today reported.

Around Oct. 25, Erdoğan dismissed chief presidential adviser Oktay Saral after Saral publicly criticized the Azerbaijani decision.

Aliyev did not attend the Organization of Turkic States summit in Ankara in late October; Azerbaijan was represented by its foreign minister. The summit came amid U.S. outreach to Erdoğan during Turkic leaders’ gatherings in the Turkish capital.

Separately, Azerbaijan has remained central to South Caucasus transit diplomacy, including the U.S.-backed route linking Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan approved by Armenia’s parliament, and high-level talks hosted in Baku.