Azerbaijan abolishes visa requirements for visiting Turkish citizens

Baku: Old and new co-exist harmoniously in Azerbaijan’s capital

Baku: Azerbaijan has removed the visa requirement for Turkish citizens, both countries have said. Currently, Turkish citizens can apply for a visa at airports in Azerbaijan.

In Baku, the foreign ministry said that the visa regime regarding “Turkish citizens holding general civil passports and wishing to come to Azerbaijan for up to 30 days” would be cancelled starting September 1.

“The Azerbaijan-Turkey relations based on common cultural-ethnic historical ties, friendship, brotherhood and solidarity between the two peoples are at the highest level,” Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said. “Today, the bilateral relations are successfully developing thanks to the efforts of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”

Accordingly, “the strategic partnership developing between Azerbaijan and Turkey in all spheres stipulates the need for free entry and exit of our peoples,” the ministry added.

The status of Turkish citizens who wish to stay in Azerbaijan for more than 30 days is regulated by the Azerbaijani corresponding laws, it said.

The decision about the cancellation of the visa regime will be another significant contribution to the development of the constantly growing fraternal relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey, the ministry said.

In Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Azerbaijan’s removal of visa requirements for Turkish citizens with valid passports was “in line with the traditional understanding that Turkey and Azerbaijan are “one nation, two states.”

The action was taken as the two countries’ cultural roots, friendship, brotherhood, and solidarity are at the highest level and developing in all fields, he added.