President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a congratulatory message to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the Azerbaijani people ahead of the country’s Nov. 8 Victory Day while flying through Azerbaijani airspace en route to South Korea on Sunday.

Erdoğan conveyed his greetings and best wishes through the aircraft’s pilot radio system, reaffirming Türkiye’s commitment to strengthening its alliance and cooperation with Azerbaijan.

“While passing through the airspace of brotherly Azerbaijan during my trip to South Korea, I extend my warmest greetings and best wishes to you and the Azerbaijani people on behalf of myself and my delegation,” Erdoğan said.

The president expressed confidence that bilateral relations would continue to deepen in the coming years.

“I would like to reiterate my strong belief that the allied relations and cooperation between our countries will continue to strengthen and develop in the future,” he said.

Erdoğan also congratulated Aliyev and the Azerbaijani people on the upcoming Victory Day, wishing the country lasting peace, prosperity and progress.

On Nov. 8, 2020, the Azerbaijani army liberated the city of Shusha, which was later declared as Victory Day by a presidential decree.

Most of the Karabakh region, which had been under illegal Armenian occupation for nearly three decades, was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement and also opened the door to normalization with Yerevan.

Ankara’s support for Azerbaijan, and especially Turkish Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), had been decisive in Baku’s victory.