Baku, Astana mull military-technical cooperation

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov on November 5 as part of his official visit to the country.

The sides discussed the development of the military-technical cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan during the meeting.

They also underlined mutual interest in the strengthening of the relations between the defense ministries of the two countries.

On November 4, the defense ministries of two countries signed a military plan of cooperation for 2016.

Azerbaijanis and Kazakhs are both Turkic-speaking people and share close historical, religious, and cultural ties. Both are littoral states of the Caspian Sea and possess a common maritime border. Currently, over 80,000 Azerbaijani people live in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan view each other as major allies and partners in Central Asia and Transcaucasia.

Diplomatic relations were established on August 27, 1992. Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Economic Cooperation Organization, the Turkic Council, the Joint Administration of Turkic Arts and Culture, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.