Azerbaijani, Turkish Air Forces to hold joint exercises
By Rashid Shirinov
Air Forces of Azerbaijan and Turkey will conduct joint flight-tactical exercises TurAz Qartalı-2017.
The exercises, to be conducted in accordance with the annual military cooperation plan between Azerbaijan and Turkey, will start on September 18 involving up to 30 aircrafts of the two countries' Air Forces. They will include MiG-29, F-16, Su-25, C-130 Herkules and CASA CN-235 aircrafts, as well as Mi-35, Mi-17 and Sikorsky S-70 helicopters, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on September 1.
The participants will fulfill tasks on planning joint activities of the Air Forces of Azerbaijan and Turkey, studying the possibilities of interaction in conducting operations and combat coordination, conducting search and rescue operations, destruction of ground targets with air strikes, as well as other tasks.
The exercises will last until September 30.
Azerbaijan and Turkey enjoy strategic relations in many fields, including the military sphere. Military cooperation between the brotherly countries dates back to 1992 when they signed an agreement on military education. Since then, the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments have been closely cooperating in both defense and security fields.
So far, the Azerbaijani and Turkish armed forces have hold regular drills, featuring various tactical and combat tasks both on Turkish and Azerbaijani territories.
In March last year, Air Force military team from Azerbaijan joined exercises TurAz Qartalı - 2016 at an airbase in the Turkish Konya. Three Azerbaijani MiG-29 fight aircrafts, three Su-25 attack aircrafts and IL-76 military transport aircrafts were tested in the exercises.
In June 2016, Azerbaijani servicemen participated in joint multinational training of Special Forces in Turkey. Previously, Armed Forces of Turkey and Azerbaijan held joint exercises in the city of Kars.
This May, joint exercises of the two countries Armed Forces were held in Azerbaijan. The aim of the exercises was to improve coordination through the exchange of experience between the Armed Forces, as well as to achieve the interoperability of the military units of the two countries through joint headquarters planning, improving the readiness and capabilities of the units to conduct operations. Later, in June, the two countries had military exercises in Nakhchivan.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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