Azerbaijan, Turkey enjoy fraternal relations
By Sara Rajabova
Historic facts say that Azerbaijan and Turkey have always supported each other in the most difficult times.
Turkish Ambassador in Azerbaijan Ismail Alper Coskun made the remark on September 15 at an event at the Turkish Embassy dedicated to the 96th anniversary of Baku's liberation by the Caucasian Islamic Army from the Armenian-Bolshevik occupation.
The clashes broke out on September 15, 1918 between the Caucasian Islamic Army on one side, and the armed units of the Baku Commune (later Central Caspian Dictatorship) and the Dashnak militants on the other side.
During the clashes, the Caucasian Islamic Army led by Nuri Pasha defeated the armed forces of the Baku Commune and the Armenian militants, and then liberated Baku from the British troops' occupation.
Coskun said Turkey and Azerbaijan are bound together by a common history.
He said the fact that many Turkish soldiers were killed during the liberation of Azerbaijan and Baku from the Armenian-Bolshevik occupation, indicates the fraternal relations between the peoples of Turkey and Azerbaijan.
"Many Turkish soldiers were killed in the liberation operation of Baku from the Armenian-Bolshevik occupation, just like Azerbaijani soldiers at the Battle of Canakkale," Coskun said.
Liberation of Baku from the Armenian-Bolshevik occupation is one of the glorious pages in Azerbaijan's history of the 20th century.
Some 1,130 soldiers of the Caucasian Islamic Army were killed in the battles for the liberation of Baku.
Turkish soldiers were buried in the cities of Baku, Shaki, Shamakhi, Goychay, Kurdamir, and Neftchala. Monuments were erected in these cities in their honor.