Azerbaijan–Turkey relations have been strong with the two often being described as "one nation with two states" by the ex-president of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev due to a common culture and history, and the mutual intelligibility of Turkish and Azerbaijani languages. Turkey was the first country in the world to recognise Azerbaijan's independence in 1991 and has been a staunch supporter of Azerbaijan in its efforts to consolidate its independence, preserve its territorial integrity and realize its economic potential arising from the rich natural resources of the Caspian Sea. The countries share a short 8 km border, with the Aras River separating Turkey from the Nakhchivan exclave.
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“So soon did we, wayfarers, begin to learn that man’s life is rounded with the same few facts, the same simple relations everywhere, and it is vain to travel to find it new.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)