Erdoğan attends opening of Zangilan airport in Azerbaijan
ANKARA
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 20 attended the inauguration ceremony of a new airport in an area of Azerbaijan liberated from Armenian occupation.
The symbolic keys of the airport, which is built with the contributions of Turkish companies, were presented to Erdoğan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and the leaders cut the opening ribbon of the airport. They then toured the airport building and received information from the authorities.
Erdoğan and Aliyev also broke ground for new projects for the development of the Zangilan region, including a smart farm village. The two leaders also had a meeting to discuss bilateral and regional issues.
Zangilan International Airport is Azerbaijan’s second airport in territories reclaimed from Armenia during the 2020 Karabakh war.
Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. New clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, with the Armenian army attacking civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violating several humanitarian ceasefire agreements.
During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and 300 settlements.
The fighting ended with a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020, with the cease-fire seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia.
Erdoğan, Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a brief conversation in early October on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Prague, marking the first top-level talks between Türkiye and Armenia since they launched a bid to mend ties.
“We had a sincere meeting with Pashinyan. I sincerely believe that we can achieve our goal of full normalization in our region on the basis of good neighborly relations,” the president said.
“Some demands were made in this meeting. We conveyed these demands to our special representatives and ministers. After the negotiations take place, we will take the necessary steps,” Erdoğan added.
