Azerbaijani-Turkish military dialogue kicks off in Baku
By Vafa Ismayilova
Azerbaijan and Turkey have started a high-level military dialogue in Baku on June 3, the Defence Ministry has reported.
The 13th meeting of the Azerbaijani and Turkish military discussed the current state of bilateral cooperation in the security, military, military-technical, military-medical, military-educational, defence industry, and other spheres.
The sides also considered prospects for the development and the main area of activities in the military and defence spheres.
The meeting was co-chaired by Azerbaijani Deputy Defence Minister Karim Valiyev and Second Chief of the Turkish General Staff, Corps General Selcuk Bayraktaroghlu.
The ministry later reported that at a meeting with Selcuk Bayraktaroglu in Baku on June 3, Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov stressed that Azerbaijan is expanding its cooperation with Turkey in the military, military-technical, military-educational fields to build up defence capability that is one of the main factors ensuring stability in the region.
The meeting discussed prospects for the development of main areas of the Azerbaijani-Turkish military cooperation and conducting joint military exercises with the involvement of various types of troops, as well as other issues of interest, the report added.
He thanked Turkey for the moral support displayed during the 44-day war. Hasanov congratulated those attending the 13th meeting of the Azerbaijani-Turkish high-level military dialogue in Baku on the start of the meeting. Bayraktaroglu thanked Hasanov for organizing a regular meeting of the Azerbaijani and Turkish military delegations in Baku.
In early May, officials from the management of the Turkish Defence Industry Executive Committee, STM, ROKETSAN, HAVELSAN companies, and ASELSAN-Baku office visited Azerbaijan to discuss bilateral military cooperation and identified ways to implement joint projects, considering the new methods of conducting modern combat operations, especially the combat experience gained during the second Karabakh war.
In early April, it was reported that Azerbaijan and Turkey will set up a joint commission under an agreement on cooperation in the defence industry between the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments.
In January, Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev said that Azerbaijan witnessed the successful result of the military-technical cooperation with Turkey and the effectiveness of the Bayraktar UAVs that Azerbaijan used in the battles during the war in autumn 2020.
The top official underlined that the successful result of cooperation and effectiveness of the UAVs are based on great scientific potential. Hajiyev said that the two countries established close cooperation in the scientific field as well.
"Our main goal for the coming period is to strengthen this cooperation," the presidential aide noted.
Turkey and Russia are represented with an equal number of servicemen in the joint center to monitor the situation in and around Nagorno-Karabakh under a trilateral peace agreement signed by Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia on November 10 to end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
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