Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated the Azerbaijani army on its historic success and humanitarian stance towards civilians during the operation against terrorism in Karabakh, praising at the same time the strategic importance of Nakhchivan in his country’s relations with Azerbaijan.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated the victorious Azerbaijani army for its historic success and humanitarian stance towards civilians in the operation against terrorism in Karabakh.
This came in a press conference held by Erdogan with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, on Monday, in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan.
Erdogan said, "Azerbaijan reminded many of the importance of fulfilling agreements and did not find a listening ear, so it was forced to carry out an operation against terrorism, and successfully completed it in the shortest time without harming civilians, and this is a reason for pride."
He added, "With the recent victory (the operation against terrorism in Karabakh), new windows of opportunity have opened for comprehensive normalization in the region."
Erdogan called on Armenia to shake the hand of peace extended to it and take sincere steps to bring peace to the region.
For his part, President Aliyev said that his country and Turkey are pushing regional issues in the right direction through mutual support between the two countries.
Aliyev noted in his speech during the conference that the Shusha Declaration raised Azerbaijani-Turkish relations to a new level, "and today they are at the highest level."
Aliyev added: “Through mutual support between us (Turkey and Azerbaijan), we are pushing regional issues in the right direction... We want peace and stability in the region, not war.”
He explained that the Armenian separatist forces in Karabakh surrendered and submitted to all of his country's conditions, stressing that his government would provide all the necessities of life for the Armenian population in the Karabakh region.
He referred to the Turkish President's speech at the United Nations General Assembly last week.
Addressing Erdogan, Aliyev said: “You made fair statements based on international law in defense of Azerbaijan’s interests on the United Nations platform, which is one of the manifestations of the brotherhood that Turkey shows towards Azerbaijan.”
He pointed out that the volume of bilateral trade between Azerbaijan and Turkey exceeds $6 billion annually, with goals of reaching $15 billion.
On Monday, the autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan in Azerbaijan witnessed the signing of 3 agreements with Turkey in various fields in the presence of Presidents Erdogan and Aliyev.
Erdogan and Aliyev signed the “Protocol of Intent between the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Azerbaijan regarding the Kars-Nakhchivan railway project.”
Earlier Monday, Erdogan arrived in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan at Aliyev's invitation.
Nakhchivan, a province belonging to Azerbaijan, has an area of about 5,363 square kilometers, and is geographically separate from the rest of Azerbaijan. Access to it requires passage through either Iran or Armenia, and the region has a short border with Turkey, about 17 km long.
He leads the elections in a city near a former Nazi camp. A right-wing extremist raises controversy in Germany
The candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany party topped the results of the first round of municipal elections for a city near a former Nazi camp. While Jörg Proffitt is close to winning the position, many see it as a "disaster."
Jörg Proffitt, the candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, is close to winning the mayorship of Nordhausen in the former East German state of Thuringia, in next Sunday's elections.
While Proffitt (61 years old) is considered the most likely to win, assuming this position would be a "disaster," according to those in charge of managing the memorial foundation for a nearby concentration camp dating back to the Nazi era.
It is noteworthy that about 60,000 people were detained in the Mittelbau Dora forced labor camp, which was affiliated with the Buchenwald concentration camp, located only 6 kilometers from the center of Nordhausen.
The detainees there were forced to manufacture V-2 missiles under brutal underground conditions.
The rise of the far right
Proffitt received 42.1% of the votes in the first round of the mayoral election earlier this month, while his opponent, Kai Buchmann, won only 23.7%.
Many residents declined to support independent candidate Buchmann, who has held power for the past six years, after he disagreed several times with the city's municipal council.
The controversy led to calls for a fresh start, and Proffitt entered the competition line. Like many members of the far-right party, Proffitt was accused of extremism and distorting history.
The right-wing candidate made many controversial statements, which did not seem to succeed this time in dissuading voters.
A poll published by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation this week revealed that right-wing extremist attitudes are spreading in Germany. Currently, 8% of Germans can be classified as having clear far-right positions, compared to 2 to 3% in previous years, according to the foundation.
Thus, Proffitt's victory will be the last link in a series of successes achieved by the Alternative for Germany party, which was founded in 2013 as an anti-euro group, before exploiting the prevailing feelings of anger over the large wave of immigration that Germany has witnessed recently.
In June, the party obtained its first ever position in the administration of a district in Thuringia, while the following month it assumed the presidency of a municipality in neighboring Saxony-Anhalt for the first time.
It received 22% in recent opinion polls, leading Chancellor Olaf Schulz's Social Democratic Party (centre-left), lagging only a few points behind the main opposition conservative party.
In conjunction with negotiations to integrate Armenians in Karabakh, Azerbaijan supplies Khankendi with electricity
A statement issued by the Azerbaijani presidency announced that the city of Khankendi in the Karabakh region would be connected to the lines of the Azerbaijani electricity network instead of the Armenian network, in conjunction with negotiations between Azerbaijani officials and representatives of the Armenian population in the region.
The Azerbaijani authorities announced on Sunday that the network of power lines in the city of Khankendi, inhabited by Armenians in the Karabakh region, was connected to the general feeding line of Azerbaijan.
A statement issued by the Azerbaijani presidency stated that the Khankendi power line was disconnected from the Armenian power grid and connected to the Azerbaijani feeder grid.
The statement explained that Khankendi's power lines are fed by transformers in the city of Shusha in the same province, adding: "The light of Azerbaijan will illuminate Khankendi from now on."
The supply of electricity to Khankendi comes days after the launch of negotiations between Azerbaijani government officials and representatives of Armenians living in the Karabakh region to discuss the path of their integration into Azerbaijani society.
Advisor to the Azerbaijani President, Hikmat Hajiyev, previously announced that the Azerbaijani state has prepared a comprehensive social and integration plan for the Armenian population in Karabakh.
On September 19, 2023, the Azerbaijani army launched an anti-terrorist operation “with the aim of establishing constitutional order in the Karabakh region.”
One day later, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced that an agreement had been reached to stop the operation in exchange for the illegal Armenian armed groups and the Armenian armed forces in Karabakh disarming and evacuating their military positions.