ISTANBUL (AP) — The Turkish and Azerbaijani presidents reaffirmed their countries’ close ties Sunday in response to growing speculation of souring relations.
Turkey and Azerbaijan are traditional allies with deep cultural and ethnic ties and often describe themselves as being “one nation, two states.” But tensions have emerged recently following criticism in Turkey of Azerbaijan’s decision to ban hijabs in schools and over Baku’s growing ties with Israel.
Click to Gallery
In this photo provided by the Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Office, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, left, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greet each other during their meeting at Fuzuli International Airport, in Azerbaijan, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office via AP)
In this handout photo released by Turkey's President Press Office, Azerbaijan's President Ilhan Aliyev, right, and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose for a photo while visiting the Shusha Fortress, in Shusha, Azerbaijan, on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (Turkey's President Press Office via AP)
In this handout photo released by Turkey's President Press Office, Azerbaijan's President Ilhan Aliyev, right, and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose for a photo in Shusha, Azerbaijan, on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (Turkey's President Press Office via AP)
In this handout photo released by Turkey's President Press Office, Azerbaijan's President Ilhan Aliyev, right, and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose for a photo while visiting the Shusha Fortress, in Shusha, Azerbaijan, on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (Turkey's President Press Office via AP)
In this photo provided by the Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Office, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, left, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greet each other during their meeting at Fuzuli International Airport, in Azerbaijan, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office via AP)
“Our brotherhood transcends our shared language, history and culture," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, speaking at a joint news conference with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the city of Shusha.
"That is why we see Baku’s joy as Ankara’s joy and Shusha’s pride as the pride of our entire nation,” Erdogan added.
The rift became apparent after social media users in Turkey and some members of Erdogan’s Islamic-oriented ruling party criticized Baku’s decision in September to ban girls and teachers from wearing Islamic covering in schools. Erdogan’s government overturned a similar ban in Turkey after coming to power in 2003. The criticism drew anger in energy-rich Azerbaijan, which complained of interference even though Turkey’s government had made no official statement about the hijab ban.
In an effort to ease tensions, Erdogan personally called Aliyev to invite him to a summit of Turkic states hosted by Turkey on Oct. 30. Erdogan also fired his aide Oktay Saral, who had criticized the headscarf ban on social media, reportedly bowing to a demand from Aliyev, according to the newspaper Cumhuriyet and other media reports.
Aliyev did not attend the Turkic summit and sent his foreign minister instead, further fueling speculation about a rift between the once close allies.
“As you all know, relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan have withstood many trials throughout history to reach the advanced level they enjoy today. The unity of hearts we describe with the motto ‘One nation, two states’ is an everlasting beacon, drawing strength from our shared past and lighting the way to our future,” Erdogan said Sunday.
Erdogan visited Shusha for Azerbaijan’s Victory Day celebrations marking the sixth anniversary of the country’s victory over Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In this photo provided by the Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Office, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, left, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greet each other during their meeting at Fuzuli International Airport, in Azerbaijan, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office via AP)
In this handout photo released by Turkey's President Press Office, Azerbaijan's President Ilhan Aliyev, right, and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose for a photo while visiting the Shusha Fortress, in Shusha, Azerbaijan, on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (Turkey's President Press Office via AP)
In this handout photo released by Turkey's President Press Office, Azerbaijan's President Ilhan Aliyev, right, and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose for a photo in Shusha, Azerbaijan, on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (Turkey's President Press Office via AP)
In this handout photo released by Turkey's President Press Office, Azerbaijan's President Ilhan Aliyev, right, and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose for a photo while visiting the Shusha Fortress, in Shusha, Azerbaijan, on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (Turkey's President Press Office via AP)
In this photo provided by the Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Office, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, left, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greet each other during their meeting at Fuzuli International Airport, in Azerbaijan, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office via AP)
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone struck emergency workers on rescue missions in southern Ukraine on Sunday, hitting a former school and nearby shelter that had been earlier blasted by multiple Russian guided bombs as residents waited for humanitarian aid, authorities said.
No one was injured in Sunday’s strike on the village of Komyshuvakha, but specialized rescue equipment was damaged, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
Ukraine said Monday's attack on the same location killed at least 55 people, near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region.
As of Sunday afternoon, 45 people were listed as missing, according to the acting head of the regional military administration, Mykhailo Semikin. Many of the bodies recovered have not been identified and DNA analysis is ongoing.
Village resident Mykola Krasnov, 72, told The Associated Press on Saturday that he was still looking for his wife, but had heard no word from rescuers.
“She went to get humanitarian aid, and a 3-ton bomb was dropped there. Where is she?” he said. “She didn’t come home, and they didn’t find her body there. She isn’t in the morgue, and she isn’t here alive.”
Ukraine has routinely accused Russia of conducting multiple strikes at the same site in quick succession to target emergency crews responding to the initial attack.
On Saturday, police officers and relatives gathered in Zaporizhzhia for a farewell ceremony for six officers killed in Russian strikes on Komyshuvakha, including four who died near the former school.
Rain fell as families wept beside the coffins, and officers held portraits of their fallen colleagues.
“They used every skill at their disposal to protect themselves. But when the enemy deliberately gathered civilians in one place and then launched strikes against them, no skills could have helped,” said Andrii Khomenko, a police lieutenant colonel who had worked alongside the victims.
The community also said goodbye to three residents among the dead. Among those mourning was Yurii Karapetian, whose wife Natalia was killed. He said she was distributing bread to those in the shelter when the Russian bombs struck.
“This pain, I would say, is unbearable,” he said, and urged the international community to act.
“The whole world must understand that if (the Russians) are not stopped, they will not stop. They will not stop at Ukraine. They will not stop anywhere,” he said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday called the attack on emergency crews in Komyshuvakha “absolute cynicism and brutality" in a post on X.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Sunday that France and other European representatives would participate in the U.S.-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11.
“France will be there and will ensure that Europe’s voice is heard,” Barrot told RTL radio. He did not specify who would represent France, or whether European officials would participate directly in negotiations.
The talks were previously presented as a trilateral meeting between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv, with U.S. President Donald Trump predicting a “very big” deal with Russia extending beyond Ukraine to “all of Europe". This raised concerns that European countries might be sidelined in negotiations over their own security.
Russian strikes in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region have left more than 600,000 people without power, Zelenskyy wrote on X on Sunday. Russia's defense ministry claimed its forces had struck an electrical substation that powered Ukrainian “military-industrial enterprises”. Other regions in Ukraine also faced outages.
Russia launched 115 missiles, 1,900 guided aerial bombs and more than 3,000 drones against Ukraine in the past week, Zelenskyy said on X. Many of the missiles had been produced this year, he added, calling on Ukraine's partners to sanction entities involved in their production.
“If the world does not have enough anti-ballistic capabilities to protect Ukrainian skies, then the missiles must be stopped on the production lines," he said.
The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest in Europe, has lost its external power supply after a damaged power line was disconnected for safety, the plant’s management reported Sunday.
It said the plant was powered by backup diesel generators since an automatic protection system shut down the damaged Ferosplavna line. Ukraine's state nuclear operator, Energoatom, also reported on Sunday that the plant was relying on generators.
The plant went offline soon after being captured by Russia early in the war, but needs power to keep essential cooling systems running. Its external power supply has periodically been severed, raising fears of a nuclear accident in case of protracted outages, as Moscow and Kyiv blamed each other for strikes that damaged nearby power lines.
Russia launched 164 drones across Ukraine overnight into Sunday, 137 of which were shot down, the Ukrainian Air Force said that morning. Hours later, one person was killed and three others injured as Russian forces struck a residential neighbourhood in Dnipro, according to local administration head Oleksandr Hanzha.
Russia’s defense ministry said Sunday that its forces destroyed 142 Ukrainian drones during the night — including over Russia, Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine and the Azov Sea.
This story corrects the number of police officers killed in the strike on the former school.
AP writer Thomas Adamson contributed from Paris.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Family members cry beside the coffins of police officers Dmytro Besedin, Mykhailo Buzhenko, Mykola Balanda and Mykhailo Romanov, killed in a Russian airstrike that destroyed an underground school, and Serhii Berezhko and Oleg Dubetskyi, killed in an FPV drone attack in Komyshuvakha, during a farewell ceremony on Khortytsia Island in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Kindergarten personnel cleaning debris inside a heavily damaged class following a missile attack on a residential area in Kyiv, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
Family members cry beside the coffins of police officers Dmytro Besedin, Mykhailo Buzhenko, Mykola Balanda and Mykhailo Romanov, killed in a Russian airstrike that destroyed an underground school, and Serhii Berezhko and Oleg Dubetskyi, killed in an FPV drone attack in Komyshuvakha, during a farewell ceremony on Khortytsia Island in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Colleagues, friends and family members pay their last respects to police officers Dmytro Besedin, Mykhailo Buzhenko, Mykola Balanda and Mykhailo Romanov, killed in a Russian airstrike that destroyed an underground school, and Serhii Berezhko and Oleg Dubetskyi, killed in an FPV drone attack in Komyshuvakha, during a farewell ceremony on Khortytsia Island in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A family member cries beside the coffins of Viktor Fomenko, Natalia Karapetian and Andrii Anikin, killed in a Russian airstrike that destroyed an underground school in Komyshuvakha, during a farewell ceremony in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
