At the event held at the Turkish Embassy in Azerbaijan on the occasion of the Republic of Turkey’s national holiday – the October 29 Republic Day, the Azerbaijani state was represented by Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev.
Globalinfo.az, citing Qafqazinfo, reports that in previous years at such events Azerbaijan had been represented by the Chairperson of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova.
Likewise, at events organized by the Azerbaijani embassy in Turkey on the occasion of May 28 – Independence Day, the Turkish side has as a rule been represented by the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey or by assistants to the President of Turkey. For example, in 2023 Vice President Fuat Oktay attended, in 2024 Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Numan Kurtulmus attended, and in 2025 Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz attended.
However, this year at the event organized by our embassy in Ankara, this tradition was broken, and Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu attended instead.
It appears that Rashad Nabiyev’s participation in yesterday’s event at the Turkish embassy reflects the reciprocity principle accepted in diplomacy.
It should also be noted that every year Azerbaijan’s embassy in Turkey has appealed to the Turkish Foreign Ministry regarding Independence Day to request that the Azerbaijani flag be illuminated on important buildings. In 2026, the Turkish Foreign Ministry did not consider our embassy’s request appropriate.
It can be assumed that pro-Palestinian and anti-Azerbaijani figures represented within the Turkish authorities play a significant role in such decisions being made by the Turkish side.
Therefore, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s visit to Cyprus on Turkey’s national holiday can also be regarded as a fitting response to those pro-Palestinian figures.
At the same time, since October 29 is tied to the name of the great Atatürk, 53 deputies of the Milli Majlis – independents and opposition members – visited his monument, which had been neglected by the Turkish embassy, and laid bouquets of flowers at the foot of the statue as a sign of respect.
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