Erdogan and Aliyev to meet Monday in Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Monday in the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan, nestled between Armenia and Iran and bordering Turkey, several Turkish media reported Sunday. Erdogan and Aliyev, an ally of Ankara, said in June they wanted to step up their efforts to open a land corridor - the so-called Zangezur corridor - linking Turkey to the main territory of Azerbaijan via the enclave of Nakhchivan and Armenia, an old and complex project.

The meeting comes as the Azerbaijani army on Tuesday launched an attack on the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is predominantly populated by Armenians and is already the scene in 2020 of a violent war that had allowed Baku to reconquer large swathes of territory. The Turkish president has repeatedly expressed his "support" for Baku's army this week.

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Armenia denounces 'ineffective alliances'

After only 24 hours of fighting, the Karabakh authorities, overwhelmed by Baku's firepower and without Yerevan's help, laid down their arms on Wednesday and negotiations began on Thursday, under Moscow's mediation, for the reintegration into Azerbaijan of the secessionist territory, where many residents remain stranded. Some experts believe that Baku may now seek to push its advantage and launch operations in southern Armenia in order to create territorial continuity with the Nakhchivan enclave.

Earlier on Sunday, September 24, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called his country's current alliances "ineffective," in a veiled reference to its long-standing relations with Moscow, inherited from the time when Armenia was part of the USSR.

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The external security systems in which Armenia is involved have proven ineffective in protecting its security and interests," the prime minister said in a televised address.