Azerbaijan

In a major milestone, the first train carrying goods from Turkey to China reached its destination on Dec. 19, Turkey's transport and infrastructure minister said.

"Announcing Turkey's power in logistics to the world from every city it passed through, the China Export Train is our victory in rail transport," Adil Karaismailoğlu wrote on Twitter.

Turkey and Azerbaijan agreed to natural gas supplies from Turkey to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez and Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov on Dec. 15.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed that Turkey and Azerbaijan will continue to cooperate to develop the liberated lands of Nagorno-Karabakh, as he attended Azerbaijan's military victory parade on Dec. 10.

Turkey's president is set to travel to Azerbaijan on a two-day visit starting on Dec. 9. 

During the official visit, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will attend a victory parade ceremony in the capital Baku upon the invitation of his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, according to a statement by the Communications Directorate.

The Turkish president on Dec. 5 termed a French parliament resolution on Upper Karabakh a "complete disaster."

"The decision taken the previous day in the parliament of France, the co-chair of the [OSCE] Minsk Group, is a complete disaster beyond the scandal," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at the opening ceremony of a newly built motorway in eastern Turkey via video link.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will pay a visit to Baku on Dec. 10 to attend a victory parade over the Azerbaijani army's liberation of territories that were under three decades of Armenian occupation and to hold talks with Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan said he had discussed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin the possibility of involving other countries in efforts to maintain the truce in the belligerent Nagorny Karabakh, Reuters reported.

Turkey will be Azerbaijan's number one partner in military and military-technical cooperation in the near future, President Ilham Aliyev said on Aug. 13 during a meeting with a delegation led by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.  

According to the press service of the State Security of Azerbaijan, he was arrested on suspicion of embezzling a large sum of money from the budget.
It was also published on the official website of the state security of Azerbaijan.

Turkey has said it will continue to stand with Azerbaijan in its ongoing dispute with Armenia, calling the latter to cease disruptive and destabilizing policies in the south Caucasus.