Karabakh war, pandemic revealed Turkic unity: Erdoğan

The president of Turkey underscored on Feb. 19 the significance of "unity" in a message sent to the Turkic World Meteorology Forum. 

"What we have experienced during both the Upper-Karabakh War and the pandemic has shown the importance of unity, solidarity and solidarity among the Turkic world in every field, from defense to diplomacy, from health to agriculture, from tourism to energy," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at the conference that was attended by officials from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Northern Cyprus, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

The event organized by Turkish State Meteorological Service in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, was also attended by Vice President Fuat Oktay and Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov.

Erdoğan expressed his gratitude to the Azerbaijani premier for attending the event and congratulated the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for leading to host the forum.

"We, as the Turkic world, have left behind and experienced the pain of losing many people, including our friends and loved ones, due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, at the same time, we felt the joy of Upper Karabakh's embracing of its the motherland again after 30 years of occupation in our hearts," he said.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought for six weeks last year after new clashes erupted Sept. 27. The Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

During the conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the Armenian occupation.

The two countries signed a Russian-brokered agreement Nov. 10 to end fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.