Azerbaijan Commemorates Victory Day on November 8, Not November 10, Following 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh Ceasefire
Azerbaijan officially celebrates Victory Day on November 8, commemorating the capture of the city of Shusha during the 44-day war over Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. While November 10, 2020, marked the effective date of the trilateral agreement to cease hostilities, signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the official holiday was moved. Initially, November 10 was chosen for Victory Day, but it was later changed to November 8 to avoid coinciding with Turkey's commemoration of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, given the close political and cultural ties between Azerbaijan and Turkey. The November 10 agreement provided for a ceasefire, the deployment of Russian peacekeepers, and the transfer of several districts to Azerbaijan, as well as the reopening of transportation routes, including links between western Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through Armenian territory.