TODAY.AZ / Politics

Azerbaijan, Turkey attach great importance to military co-op

05 March 2015 [17:40] - TODAY.AZ

/By AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Azerbaijan and Turkey seek to keep on sustainable progress in military cooperation inspired by tight and close relations, and mutually agreeable interests in the region.

Azerbaijan's Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov once again proved the friendly and fraternal relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey when he showed it as a basis to developing mutual relations.

In a meeting with Turkish Air Force Commander, Akin Ozturk in Baku on March 5, Hasanov reiterated the importance of accumulation of a military experience as a result of joint drills between the two countries' armed forces.

Putting a special stress on expanding cooperation in terms of military exercises, Hasanov said: "Air force training held in Azerbaijan last year and the ongoing exercises arranged in Turkey as part of military cooperation plan are of great significance in light of gaining more experience."

When the talks came to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Hasanov said Armenia was the main source of threat to regional stability, underlining the importance of the conflict's settlement based on international norms.

Armenian troops have been keeping the Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions, which are part of Azerbaijan's historical and internationally recognized territory, under military occupation for over two decades, following a bloody war in the early 1990s. Encroaching on Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, Armenian armed forces pursued an armed invasion and grabbed 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory. Ignoring calls from the international community, as well as international norms and principles, Yerevan has persistently supported its destructive position on the conflict's settlement.

Ozturk, for his turn, hailed the mutual Azerbaijani-Turkish relations that are based on historical roots and friendly relations.

Like most of all top Turkish officials, Ozturk also presented his country as an important strategic partner of Azerbaijan.

Turkish and Azerbaijani air forces are currently engaged in joint air force drills in Turkey's Konya region. Turkey has been the first country to invite Azerbaijani Air Forces to join in military exercises beyond its borders.

Regular Azerbaijan-Turkey joint exercises serve primarily to test and reinforce the planned joint activities of both countries' air force, explore the possibilities of joint actions and coordination in view of conducting combat operations and destruction of ground targets with air strikes.

Military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey started in 1992 with an agreement signed on military education. The agreement established the close and sustainable cooperation of the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments on defense and security fields.

Turkey's continuous military assistance to Azerbaijan surpassed $200 million in 2010. Azerbaijan army possesses various Turkish-made military equipment, as Turkey is among the main arms suppliers to Azerbaijan. Over 20 Turkish defense industry companies hold cooperation and commercial relations with the South Caucasus country.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/139048.html

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