By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk
On November 8, 2026, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev used a joint appearance in Shusha to reject attempts to damage their countries' alliance, following weeks of public friction between political figures in the two countries.
Erdoğan said "those seeking to weaken this brotherhood will never achieve their aims," invoking the Shusha Declaration signed in June 2021. Aliyev said he would not allow anyone "to come between us" or use the relationship for personal interests. Neither identified whom he meant.
The leaders spoke on Azerbaijan's Victory Day, six years after its victory in the 2020 Karabakh war. Aliyev described Erdoğan's presence in Karabakh as a demonstration of unity.
Aliyev's Ankara Absence and the October Dispute
Erdoğan invited Aliyev to the October 30 Organization of Turkic States (OTS) summit during a telephone call on October 21, according to both presidencies. Aliyev did not attend. Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov represented Azerbaijan as the rotating chairmanship passed to Türkiye. That same day, Aliyev attended the final and awards ceremony of a FIFA under-15 football tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan's presidency confirmed.
The absence followed a dispute between political figures in the two countries. On October 13, Azerbaijan's governing New Azerbaijan Party criticized Oktay Saral, then an adviser to Erdoğan, and lawmakers from Türkiye's ruling Justice and Development Party over comments on Azerbaijani school rules and religious expression. The party also objected to Turkish commentary on Azerbaijan's relations with Israel and warned against interference in its domestic affairs.
On October 26, Saral announced that he had submitted his resignation from Erdoğan's presidential advisory team. Neither government publicly linked the dispute to Aliyev's decision to miss the summit, as Bosphorus News documented before the Ankara meeting. Aliyev's appearance at the football ceremony confirms a competing engagement but does not explain his absence from Ankara.
Asked on November 5 about reports of a crisis in relations with Azerbaijan, Erdoğan said he had spoken with Aliyev and sent Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın to Azerbaijan. He did not disclose the purpose of those visits or announce an agreement.
Shusha Declaration and OTS Chairmanship
In Shusha, Erdoğan invoked the alliance formalized by the 2021 Shusha Declaration. He thanked Azerbaijan for its outgoing OTS chairmanship and said Türkiye would work to strengthen the organization's institutions during its own term.
The October 30 summit had adopted its declaration and leadership decisions without Aliyev present.
Erdoğan also pledged continued support for reconstruction in Karabakh, citing a joint forestry training and nursery center in Jabrayil and a 40-classroom school under construction in Aghdam. Neither was presented as a new agreement reached in Shusha.
Neither presidency explicitly linked the Shusha remarks to the October dispute or Aliyev's absence from Ankara. No agreement addressing either issue was announced.
Sources: Türkiye's Directorate of Communications, Presidency of Azerbaijan, New Azerbaijan Party, Organization of Turkic States, Bosphorus News review and reporting.