Turkey says it’s ready to open consulate in city that Azerbaijan took from Armenian forces

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his country is ready to open a consulate in Shusha, a city that Azerbaijan took from Armenian forces in a war in 2020.

Erdogan made the comment during a visit to Azerbaijan at the start of his third term in office following presidential elections last month.

"We are ready to open our consulate whenever you wish," Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Erdogan as telling Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and other officials at the start of bilateral talks.

"If we can open a consulate in Shusha, this would be a message to the world and especially to Armenia," he said.

Shusha, a center of Azeri culture for centuries, came under Armenian control in 1992 in fighting over the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region. Its retaking by Azerbaijan's forces in 2020 was of symbolic and strategic importance because it sits...