Turkish vice president meets Azerbaijani premier

ANKARA Turkey's vice president on Thursday met with Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov in Ankara. Expressing pride to be hosting the Azerbaijani premier at Turkey's Presidential Complex, Fuat Oktay pledged to revive and build the Upper Karabakh region recently liberated from Armenian occupation by Azerbaijan. "We are one nation... Not only on the battlefield but we will continue to support you from now on also in building and reviving those regions [Upper Karabakh]," Oktay said. Asadov also thanked Turkey not only for the support during the Upper Karabakh conflict, but also for the support Azerbaijan received amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Azerbaijani premier was also received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a closed-door meeting. Liberation of occupied lands Relations between the ex-Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions. When new clashes erupted last September, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements. During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the nearly three-decade occupation. Last November, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russian-brokered peace deal to end fighting. The truce is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia.