Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has marked the fifth anniversary of the country’s victory in the Second Karabakh War with a military parade in the capital, Baku, thanking Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his support

“My dear brother, Erdogan supported Azerbaijan from the very first hours of the Second Karabakh War. His statement that ‘Azerbaijan is not alone’ was a message to the world. The Azerbaijani people will never forget this support,” Aliyev said on Saturday.

Aliyev said Azerbaijan had worked for three decades to reclaim its lands, building a strong economy and an independent foreign policy and establishing a capable military.

“These factors brought us closer to victory,” he said.

Highlighting reconstruction efforts in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, Aliyev noted that 60,000 people now live in the liberated areas.

“We have returned to Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur as rightful owners. The Azerbaijani flag will fly here forever. Karabakh is Azerbaijan,” he said.

Turkish and Pakistani troops also participated in the parade.

“This demonstrates the unity of the three countries’ armies,” Aliyev said.

Most of the Karabakh region, which had been under 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 normalisation with Yerevan.

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

Initially, Victory Day was to be celebrated on November 10, the day of the end of the Second Karabakh War, but this was later changed due to coinciding with the anniversary of the passing of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye.