ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit staunch ally Azerbaijan on 9-10 Dec. following a truce that ended fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The planned visit is the first by a foreign head of state to Baku since the ceasefire last month, which ended six weeks of heavy fighting and saw ethnic Armenians agree to withdraw from large parts of the contested region of Azerbaijan.
Turkey is a regional ally of Azerbaijan and has fervently defended its right to reclaim the Nagorno-Karabakh lands Baku lost to ethnic Armenian separatists in a 1988-94 war.
While the presidency did not provide details of the visit, Erdogan is expected to meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev.
Azerbaijan has announced a major military parade for December 10, although it was not clear if Erdogan will attend.
Ankara announced on Tuesday that Turkey and Russia have agreed to monitor the Karabakh truce from a joint peacekeeping centre.
Last month, the Turkish parliament voted to deploy a mission to set up the centre with Russia, while Moscow has insisted that Turkey will have no troops on the ground under the terms of the truce deal.
Turkish officials have said the centre will be established in an area designated by Azerbaijan.

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