BAKU (Today’s Zaman)–Turkish flags removed from a monument to Turkish soldiers in Baku earlier this month amid political tension over Turkish-Armenian rapprochement were raised again on Tuesday night.
Azerbaijan removed the flags from a monument to Turkish soldiers who fell while fighting for Azerbaijan’s independence in 1918, reportedly in retaliation for Turkey’s decision, at the behest of the world soccer governing body FIFA, to ban Azerbaijani flags during a World Cup qualifying match between the national teams of Turkey and Armenia earlier this month.
Azerbaijani flags were seen in a garbage bin as the police collected them at the entrance to the stadium, angering Baku.
Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilic, who watched as Azerbaijani authorities raised the flags near the monument on Tuesday evening, said the development was pleasing. “The fact that our flags are being put back into their place show that Turkey and Azerbaijan are two nations that cannot give up on each other,” he said.