Azeri president’s wife, VP thanks Erdoğan for support over Armenia conflict

Azerbaijan's First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva thanked President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the people of Turkey for showing Baku solidarity and support over mounting tensions with Armenia.

“First of all, I express my deep gratitude to the brotherly people of Turkey and personally to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Their solidarity and support evoke a sense of pride in every Azerbaijani today,” Aliyeva said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Pointing out that the Azerbaijani army is currently fighting to defend its own territories, "Yet another armed provocation of Armenia has been rebuffed! Defending the Motherland, the Azerbaijani Army is conducting a successful counter-offensive operation and liberating the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” she added.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev also thanked Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan for his support on Wednesday.

Border clashes broke out early Sunday when Armenian forces targeted Azerbaijani civilian settlements and military positions, leading to casualties.

Azerbaijan's parliament declared a state of war in some of its cities and regions following Armenia's border violations and attacks in the occupied Upper Karabakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, region.

On Monday, Azerbaijan declared partial military mobilization amid the clashes.

Relations between the two former Soviet nations have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.

Four UN Security Council and two UN General Assembly resolutions, as well as many international organizations, demand the withdrawal of the occupying forces.

The OSCE Minsk Group -- co-chaired by France, Russia and the US -- was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but to no avail. A cease-fire, however, was agreed upon in 1994.

France, Russia and NATO, among others, have urged an immediate halt to clashes in the occupied region.