Azerbaijan held a victory parade in Baku marking its military success in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, attended by Turkish President Erdoğan.
Key Facts
- Date
- 10 December 2020
- Venue
- Azadliq Square, Baku
- Military servicemen
- 3,000 personnel
- Notable foreign attendee
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
- War commemorated
- Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (Patriotic War)
- Diplomatic controversy
- Erdoğan's remarks on Enver Pasha sparked Armenian condemnation
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Azerbaijan achieved a decisive military victory in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, recapturing territories it had lost in the early 1990s. The conflict ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement in November 2020, which Azerbaijan officially termed the Patriotic War.
On 10 December 2020, Azerbaijan staged a large victory parade at Azadliq Square in Baku, featuring 3,000 servicemen, military equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles, Armenian war trophies, and Turkish forces. Turkish President Erdoğan attended as part of a state visit, and naval vessels conducted maneuvers in the Bay of Baku while jets and helicopters flew overhead.
The parade drew widespread criticism in Armenia due to President Aliyev's irredentist statements claiming parts of Armenian territory as historically Azerbaijani, and Erdoğan's invocation of Enver Pasha. The remarks were condemned by Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan, and Erdoğan's recitation of a Soviet-era Azerbaijani poem also strained relations with Iran.