Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

High-ranking Azerbaijani and Turkish military officials have discussed prospects for expanding mobilization and conscription experience exchange, the State Service for Mobilization and Conscription has reported.

A meeting was held in Baku between the head of Azerbaijan’s State Service for Mobilization and Conscription, Col-Gen Arzu Rahimov, and the deputy head of the Turkish National Defence Ministry’s Mobilization Department, Mehmet Erdogan, focused on the issue in question.

Military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey first emerged in 1992, with an agreement signed between the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments on military education and weapon equipment and deals to help strengthen the bond between the two nations.

On June 15, the two countries signed a memorandum of alliance that cemented the existing military, political and economic cooperation. Signed Shusha Declaration affirms joint efforts by the two armies in the face of foreign threats. The declaration also pledges joint efforts for the restructuring and modernization of the armed forces. Moreover, the two nations affirm to encourage the execution of joint projects with the aim of developing capabilities in the field of sea, air, and space.

Azerbaijan and Turkey also cooperate in various fields of economy and have jointly completed giant energy and infrastructure projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars and TANAP.

Turkey was also one of the first countries that expressed its interest and readiness to participate in the restoration of Azerbaijan’s liberated territories.

In late September 2020, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on partial military mobilization in the country following the Armenian attacks, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces and civilian settlements to shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers along the frontline zone in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan's partial mobilization announcement came after Armenia declared martial law and total military mobilization.

The clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated for the second time in 2020 after Armenia's forces deployed in the occupied Azerbaijani lands targeted Azerbaijani civilian settlements and military positions, causing casualties among civilians and the military.

In the early hours of September 27, Azerbaijan launched a counter-offensive operation that lasted six weeks. The operation resulted in the liberation of Azerbaijan's occupied lands.

A Russia-brokered ceasefire deal that Azerbaijan and Armenia signed on November 10, 2020 brought an end to the 44-day war between the two countries. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it had occupied.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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