The key facts
- Erdoğan and Aliyev held a joint press conference in Khankendi on 8 November 2026
- The visit took place after weeks of diplomatic disagreements between Ankara and Baku
- Aliyev said 97,000 people live in the returned territories; infrastructure spending has exceeded 10 billion euros
Victory Day in Khankendi and Erdoğan's visit
On 8 November 2026, Azerbaijan marked Victory Day — the sixth anniversary of the end of the 2020 Karabakh war. President Ilham Aliyev laid a wreath at the Victory Monument in Khankendi in memory of fallen servicemen and called the liberation of Shusha on 8 November 2020 the decisive moment of the conflict: “The liberation of Shusha in fact predetermined the outcome of the Second Karabakh War,” Euronews quotes him as saying. Two days later, on 10 November 2020, a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement was signed, and the date of Shusha's capture came to be celebrated as Victory Day.
The symbolism of the visit after disagreements
The main event of the ceremonies was the participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who arrived at Aliyev's invitation together with his wife Emine. According to Euronews, the visit took place after weeks of diplomatic disagreements between Ankara and Baku and criticism of Azerbaijan within Turkish society — against this backdrop, both leaders used the anniversary to demonstrate the strength of their partnership. “This unity will last forever. Your presence with us on Victory Day delights the entire Azerbaijani people,” Aliyev said. In his X account, Erdoğan called the 2020 victory “a source of pride for the entire Turkic world” and added that “those who seek to weaken the brotherhood of Azerbaijan and Turkey will never achieve their goals.” Before the trip, he also emphasized that relations with Baku go “far beyond ordinary diplomacy.”
Karabakh's reconstruction in the figures cited by Aliyev
Beyond the symbolism, the ceremonies served as an occasion to report on post-war reconstruction. According to Aliyev, 97,000 people now live, study and work in the returned territories under the “Great Return” program; official figures cite more than 40,000 resettled residents in new settlements, including Fuzuli, Zangilan, Lachin and Shusha. Infrastructure spending since 2020, according to published figures, has exceeded 10 billion euros: international airports have been built in Fuzuli, Zangilan and Lachin, about 3,000 km of main roads, and the renewable energy target is 2,000 MW by 2030. In Shusha, 27 historical monuments have been restored, including seven mosques. On 3 November, the country's parliament (Milli Majlis) adopted an official statement defining reconstruction as the foundation of future economic growth.
Context of the peace process with Armenia
Against the backdrop of the celebrations, Euronews also recalls the broader regional context: talks between Baku and Yerevan have moved from multilateral mediation to direct bilateral consultations, the teams have agreed on most articles of a draft peace treaty on mutual recognition of sovereignty and the opening of transport links, and earlier this year the demarcation of a 12.7 km section of the northern border was completed. Speaking alongside Erdoğan, Aliyev stated that the unity of the two countries “is an important factor across a vast geographic territory, promoting stability, cooperation and security.”
