President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a message of unity in the Turkic world at the 13th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States, which Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev did not attend. Erdoğan said, “There is no room for division, separation or discord in the family portrait of the Turkic world. We are all one, together, and, God willing, brothers from eternity to eternity.”
Azerbaijan was represented by Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov at the summit in Ankara. Erdoğan said, “The family portrait we presented yesterday and today has become a symbol both of our loyalty to our past and of our determination to build our common future together.”
“I extend my congratulations to our Azerbaijani brothers”
Erdoğan said Türkiye had taken over the organization’s chairmanship from Azerbaijan and added, “On behalf of our organization, I extend my congratulations to our Azerbaijani brothers for the efforts they made during their chairmanship.”
Erdoğan said, “We support the contacts our Azerbaijani brothers are conducting with Armenia, and I state that we will continue to make every contribution we can to lasting peace.”
Bayramov attended in Aliyev’s place
Azerbaijani media announced on October 29 that Aliyev would not attend the summit. Report.az reported that Aliyev did not travel to Ankara because he was due to attend the awards ceremony for the final of the first FIFA U-15 World Championship, held in Baku on October 30; the agency wrote that his attendance at the ceremony had been planned in advance. The Azerbaijani presidency issued no separate statement on the matter.
On October 21, Erdoğan spoke with Aliyev by phone on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Azerbaijan’s independence and personally invited him to the summit. In a congratulatory message sent to Erdoğan on October 29 for Republic Day, Aliyev addressed him as “my dear brother.”
Against the backdrop of the headscarf controversy
A dispute had arisen between the two countries in recent weeks over restrictions on headscarves in schools in Azerbaijan. Presidential Chief Adviser Oktay Saral, who criticized the restriction, said on October 25 that he was leaving his post and announced on October 26 that he had submitted his resignation. Some Turkish journalists wrote, citing Azerbaijani sources, that Aliyev’s attendance was linked to the dispute; Baku issued no official statement linking the two issues.
The summit, held under the theme “Turkic World: Unity in Language, Thought and Action,” was attended by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.
