Azerbaijan vows continued support for Turkey against fires

By Ruslan Rehimov

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AA) - Azerbaijan on Friday pledged to continue to help Turkey contain forest fires that have continued to burn in the country for over a week, claiming eight lives.

In a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev offered to send 200 more firefighters to support Turkey's efforts to contain the flames burning in parts of the country's southern regions, according to a written statement by the Azerbaijani Presidency.

Aliyev once again expressed his condolences for the victims of the fires, noting that, in addition to 53 Azerbaijan sent earlier, 40 fire trucks were on their way to Turkey, and would reach the fire zone on Saturday.

Baku has currently deployed 510 Azerbaijani firefighting personnel in Turkey, as well as a helicopter and an amphibious aircraft, Aliyev noted.

President Erdogan thanked Aliyev for his condolences and support.

He said the Azerbaijani firefighters in Turkey were serving with great professionalism and devotion.

Erdogan also thanked Baku for the additional support to be sent, stressing that this support was a clear manifestation of the fraternity and friendship between the two countries.

According to official figures, at least eight people have lost their lives since the fires started on July 28.

-Nagorno-Karabakh

Aliyev also informed Erdogan about provocations carried out by Armenian forces on the border with Azerbaijan, noting that the country's army had responded as necessary.

Erdogan underlined that Ankara has always supported Baku in the conflict with Yerevan over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani territory that had been under nearly three decades of Armenian occupation until late last year.

During the meeting, the two leaders exchanged opinions on regional developments since the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

New clashes erupted last September and ended on Nov. 10 with a Russia-brokered cease-fire.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from Armenia.

*Writing by Merve Berker in Ankara