Aliyev: ‘TRNC president’ invited to Turkic states meeting

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said on Monday that “the president of the TRNC will attend” an upcoming summit of the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS) in his country.

Aliyev was speaking at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on the occasion of his first overseas visit since winning re-election to his country’s presidency in a landslide victory on February 7.

He said he plans to hold an unofficial summit of the OTS in July in the town of Shusha, a town in the Karabakh region which was recaptured by Azerbaijan from Armenian forces last year.

“The president of the TRNC will attend the summit to be held in Shusha upon my invitation. This will accelerate the unity of the Turkic people,” he said.

“The unification of the Turkic world and the coexistence of peoples with common cultures will strengthen the power of each OTS member.”

He also spoke about relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey, saying “the unity of Turkey and Azerbaijan is an important factor not only for the region but for Eurasia.”

“Turkey has a say in the world today. It carries weight not only in the region, but also globally on many issues,” he said.

“Turkey is a guarantor of peace, stability, and cooperation in the region, and Turkey always stood by Azerbaijan during the Second Karabakh war.”

Monday is not the first time Aliyev has referred to a “president of the TRNC”. He referred to Ersin Tatar by the same title following a bilateral meeting between the pair in Baku in October.

October’s meeting came during the visit of a 200-strong Turkish Cypriot delegation to Azerbaijan, during which Aliyev said it was “quite logical for the north to have a seat as an observer of the OTS”.

The Republic of Cyprus had expressed “disappointment and dissatisfaction” after Aliyev had used the same terminology during a meeting with Tatar in 2022.