Erdogan congratulates Aliyev on Azerbaijan’s restoration of Lachin

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday congratulated his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev for restoring his country’s control over the city of Lachin and the villages of Zabukh and Sus in the Karabakh region, after the withdrawal of the Armenian occupation from them.

The statement of the Turkish Presidency Communication Department stated that the two presidents held telephone talks on bilateral relations and regional developments.

According to the statement, Erdogan informed Aliyev of his welcome and congratulations on the restoration of Azerbaijan’s control over the city of Lachin and the villages of Zabukh and Sus in the Karabakh region.

He expressed his appreciation for Aliyev’s efforts to find a just and lasting solution aimed at establishing stability and peace in the South Caucasus.

Erdogan also expressed his country’s desire to make progress in the two tracks of normalization between Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

He stressed that Turkey stands by its sister Azerbaijan in all circumstances.

And yesterday, Friday, Aliyev announced the return of the city of Lachin and the villages of Zabukh and Sus to the control of Azerbaijan after the evacuation of the Armenian occupation from them.

Lachin is the corridor connecting Armenia and the Azerbaijani city of Hankendi, which is inhabited by an Armenian majority.

Lachin was allocated a space for the movement of Armenian civilians in the region for a period of 3 years, under the supervision of the Russian temporary forces.

It is noteworthy that in May 1992 Armenia occupied Lachin, and during the 30 years in which it was subjected to occupation, the region witnessed the illegal settlement of Armenians by bringing them in, especially from Syria and Lebanon.

On September 27, 2020, the Azerbaijani army launched an operation to liberate its occupied lands in the Karabakh region, following an attack by the Armenian army on civilian populated areas.

After fierce battles that lasted 44 days, Russia announced in November 2020 that Azerbaijan and Armenia had reached a ceasefire agreement stipulating that Baku would regain control of the occupied provinces.