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Erdoğan and Aliyev visit Shusha Castle after press conference
President Erdoğan and Azerbaijani President Aliyev visited the 18th-century Shusha Castle after their joint press conference in Shusha. The two leaders took a commemorative photo in front of the “Shusha” inscription on the fortress walls.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Shusha Castle after meeting privately with President Ilham Aliyev at the Shusha Governor's Office and holding a joint press conference during his visit to Azerbaijan for Victory Day on November 8. The Azerbaijani presidency said the two leaders took a commemorative photo in front of the castle.
Footage recorded by AA shows Aliyev briefing Erdoğan about the surroundings on the stone path leading up to the castle.
The video shows Erdoğan and Aliyev walking along the stone path toward the historic walls bearing the inscription “Shusha” as they converse, then posing side by side in front of the castle.
Center of the Karabakh Khanate
Shusha Castle was built in the mid-18th century during the rule of Panahali Khan, the khan of Karabakh; Shusha served as the center of the Karabakh Khanate for many years. The city was occupied by Armenia in 1992 and liberated by the Azerbaijani army on November 8, 2020. The liberation of Shusha is regarded as a turning point that determined the outcome of the 44-day war; November 8 is therefore celebrated as Victory Day in Azerbaijan.
At the press conference, Aliyev also recalled that Shusha had been liberated from Armenian occupation exactly six years earlier, that Armenia formally surrendered the following day, and that the 30-year occupation had thereby ended. According to the text published by the Azerbaijani presidency, Aliyev said that Shusha had not lost its national spirit despite remaining under occupation for 28 years, that the city's liberation carried great symbolic significance and that it was one of the important stages of the Second Karabakh War.
“Our Shusha, gathered into bouquets of the most fragrant roses”
Erdoğan also began his remarks at the press conference with verses describing Shusha: “Like a most precious word engraved in our language, like a hearth that warms our souls, like an ember. Our Shusha, gathered into bouquets of the most fragrant roses.” Erdoğan said he was pleased to be in Shusha, a city of history, nature and culture, and added, “I believe that Shusha will be very different the next time we visit.”
Shusha also holds a special place in Türkiye-Azerbaijan relations. Erdoğan and Aliyev signed the Shusha Declaration in the city on June 15, 2021, elevating relations between the two countries to the level of an alliance. That same year, Aliyev declared Shusha Azerbaijan's cultural capital, and in 2023 the city was selected by TURKSOY as the Cultural Capital of the Turkic World.
After visiting Shusha Castle, the two leaders went to the Khojaly Genocide Memorial and laid a wreath, then visited the Victory Monument in Khankendi. Erdoğan attended an official dinner hosted by Aliyev in Khankendi at the end of the day.
Photo: AA, Azerbaijani Presidency. Video: AA
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