Azernews.Az

Amina Nazarli

The defense ministers of the regional neighbors -- Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia – came together in Azerbaijan’s city of Gabala on May 15 to look though the development perspectives of the trilateral military ties.

The bilateral and trilateral meetings involving Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov of Azerbaijan, Ismet Yilmaz of Turkey and Tinatin Khidasheli of Georgia on Sunday discussed security issues and mutual interest for cooperation in the military field.

The meetings also thoroughly discussed the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, particularly the recent developments along the line of contact of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops.

Holding such a trilateral format in the period, when the three countries are going through the certain known military conflicts, is aimed at improving combat readiness and mutual vigilance of the neighboring countries.

Exclusively peaceful nature of the meeting is expected to give an impetus for improvement of the military base and future prospects of relations.

Turkey, which ranks among the top ten countries on the planet, according to the ranking Global Firepower, has the largest army compared to Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Today, Turkish-Azerbaijani relations are important not only for development of bilateral relations, but they also perform a stabilizing function within maintenance of peace, stability and security in the region.

The meeting is important for Azerbaijan, which for more than 20 years is fighting for the return of its historical territories, occupied by Armenian armed forces.

Georgia, in turn, intends to modernize its defense forces to join NATO, which the country is awaiting for several years.

The three countries that enjoy the friendly and fruitful relations are actively working to strengthen their trilateral military and defense cooperation in a sustainable manner.

In recent years, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia’s relations reached the level of strategic partnership and play an important role in ensuring peace and stability, sustainable development, the welfare of the three nations.

The ministers exchanged views on the military-political situation in the region, stressing the strategic importance of the bilateral talks and meetings.

During the fourth trilateral meeting the parties reiterated the importance of enhancing the combat readiness of the three countries’ armed forces and holding trilateral joint military exercises in order to achieve mutual interoperability, trilateral development of military education and training, development of cooperation on cyber security, and further improvement of trilateral exercises on the protection of oil and gas pipelines.

Hasanov highlighted the importance of the meeting, saying that Azerbaijani, Turkish and Georgian defense ministries are expected to sign a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding.

He noted the memorandum, which is under development, will be a legal base of the three countries’ cooperation and allow their trilateral activities to enter a new stage.

The three countries will hold joint military exercises, Azerbaijan's defense minister informed.

"We considered it appropriate to hold trilateral joint exercises to improve combat readiness and mutual vigilance of the three countries, cooperate in the field of military training in a trilateral format, develop cooperation in the field of cyber security and hold exercises for the protection of oil and gas pipelines," he added.

Hasanov said during the bilateral and trilateral talks, they discussed the military and political situation in the region, as well as security issues.

He expressed hope that the military cooperation between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey will contribute to the strengthening of fraternal and friendly relations between the peoples of the three countries, as well as the restoration of peace and stability and achievement of sustainable development in the region.

Hasanov also thanked his Georgian and Turkish counterparts for sincere and fruitful discussions and the Georgian and Turkish people for supporting Azerbaijan’s fair stance on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the recent developments along the line of contact of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops.

Ismet Yilmaz said the private meeting between Turkey and Azerbaijan addressed issues of regional security, global projects, conducted with the participation of the three countries, and the joint security of oil and gas pipelines.

The Turkish minister noted that Azerbaijan intends to increase its military power and to strengthen the defense sector.

“Turkey and Azerbaijan want to solve Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Turkey is ready to fully support Azerbaijan in the liberation of the Azerbaijani lands occupied by Armenia and solving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” he said.

Tinatin Khidasheli, for her part, noted that the goal of the meeting is to restore and protect the peace and prosperity in the region.

She stressed that today Georgia has extensive connections with Azerbaijan and Turkey in all spheres, including the military. The agreement reached at the meeting, will create opportunities for further strengthening of cooperation.

“Georgia and Azerbaijan felt Turkey's support over the past 25 years. I consider this meeting effective for the further expansion of military cooperation between the three countries,” the Georgian minister said.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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