A meeting was held on October 24 at the Central Office of the New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) between Tahir Budagov, YAP Deputy Chairman and Head of the Central Office, and Hakkı Şafak Ses, adviser to the chairman of Turkiye's Victory Party (Zafer Party), at the initiative of the latter party.
Conveying greetings from Victory Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ, Hakkı Şafak Ses expressed his party's interest in establishing ties with the New Azerbaijan Party. He also asked that the possibility of a delegation representing his party visiting Baku to discuss these matters be considered.
He noted that the Victory Party had viewed with serious dissatisfaction and concern the campaign against Azerbaijan launched recently by certain political circles in Turkiye. The adviser emphasized that Ümit Özdağ had made his position clear from the outset, strongly objecting to these developments and unequivocally stressing in all his public statements that no force had the right to interfere in Azerbaijan's internal affairs.
"Azerbaijan, as an independent and secular state, is free to make its own decisions, and any attempts to interfere in its internal affairs are absolutely unacceptable," he said.
Referring to a statement issued by the New Azerbaijan Party's press service on the matter, Hakkı Şafak Ses noted that YAP's justified position had also received support from Turkish society.
He stated that the biased views of the 31 individuals declared persona non grata by Azerbaijan and banned from entering the country did not reflect the position of the Turkish people.
"Recent developments have once again confirmed that the Turkish people respect Azerbaijan's independent and principled policy, which is based on national interests, friendship and brotherhood. All negative developments that undermine Turkish-Azerbaijani unity must be unequivocally prevented. The Victory Party's position is that concrete legal measures should be taken against individuals in Turkiye who conduct negative propaganda against Azerbaijan," the adviser added.
Tahir Budagov thanked him for the greetings and asked him to convey his own greetings to Ümit Özdağ.
Expressing serious regret over the slanderous and defamatory campaign against Azerbaijan conducted by certain political circles in Turkiye, including individuals holding senior government positions and representing the ruling party, Tahir Budagov thanked the Victory Party and its chairman for their unequivocal support for Azerbaijan's justified position.
The YAP Deputy Chairman emphasized that launching a biased campaign against Azerbaijan unexpectedly, at a time when relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye had reached their highest level, was a serious historical mistake.
Recalling Azerbaijan's significant contributions to solidarity and cooperation across the Turkic world, as well as to strengthening the position of the Organization of Turkic States in the modern system of international relations amid complex geopolitical developments, Tahir Budagov stressed that the current situation was unacceptable, as it also undermined this process.
"Throughout their history, relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye have faced various challenges. Thanks to the will of our peoples, these relations have overcome every test with honor and emerged even stronger. Today, attempts to exert pressure on our country's independent policy based on the principle of secularism are unacceptable, and Azerbaijan cannot be made to abandon its chosen path," he said.
The meeting also addressed prospects for future cooperation between the New Azerbaijan Party and the Victory Party.