Turkish defence minister, Azerbaijani president meet in Baku

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler in Baku, a presidential statement has said.

Aliyev and Guler on Tuesday said friendly and fraternal relations between Azerbaijan and Türkiye are successfully developing in all directions, including in the military domain.

They praised joint Azerbaijani-Turkish tactical exercises, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk 2023, saying the militaries of the two countries showed "high professionalism and skills."

Guler said the exercises coincided with the 100th birth anniversary of Azerbaijani national leader Heydar Aliyev.

Aliyev and Guler also spoke about the restoration of Azerbaijan's sovereignty over the country's entire territory, including Karabakh, after last month's anti-terrorist measures.

After nearly 30 years of Armenian occupation, most of Karabakh was liberated by Azerbaijan during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement.

This September, the Azerbaijani army initiated an anti-terrorism operation in Karabakh to establish constitutional order in the region, after which illegal separatist forces in the region surrendered.

Azerbaijan, having now established full sovereignty in the region, has reiterated its call on the ethnic Armenian population in Karabakh to become part of Azerbaijani society.