Defense Ministry refutes reports about establishment of foreign military base
By Gunay Camal
President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on July 20 to approve the protocol that the Turkish military has been allocated to manage buildings and structures in the country’s military town.
The protocol says the Azerbaijani government has allocated buildings and structures in Gizil Sherg military town, and one terminal building located in the airfield in Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiyev settlement for the use of the Turkish Armed Forces.
The Azerbaijani and Turkish governments signed the relevant protocol on July 3, 2016.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry was instructed to execute the provisions of this protocol, while the Foreign Ministry was tasked to notify Turkish government about fulfillment of intrastate procedures necessary for the protocol to enter into force.
The Defense Ministry, commenting on the protocol, said a building located in the Gyzyl Sherg military town, used since '90s, was rented to the office of military attaché of Turkey in Azerbaijan.
Deputy Defense Minister, Commander of Air Force of Azerbaijan Ramiz Tahirov clarified that since 1999 the terminal in the airfield in Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiyev settlement was used for sending Azerbaijani soldiers participating in peacekeeping missions in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.
One of the terminals located there had restrooms designed for personnel providing maintenance of aircraft and pilots. Aircrafts of the Turkish Air Force were engaged in sending and returning of Azerbaijani peacekeepers.
“An hour before landing at the airport, these two rooms are opened by the representative of the Turkish military attaché in the country. As long as the plane is at the airport, it is being serviced, fueled and other procedures conducted, while pilots take short-term rest in these rooms. The rooms are closed after sending the aircraft and transferred to the Azerbaijani side, following which representatives of the Turkish military attaché apparatus leave the territory," he said
This protocol allows the lessee to carry out construction and repair works here, added Tahirov.
Military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey dates back to 1992, when the two countries established ties in military education.
Over the past decades, the partnership covered such areas as training and assistance for Azerbaijan's border service. In 2010, the two brotherly countries formed an official strategic partnership that involved promises of mutual military assistance in case of a major conflict.
Later, Turkey increased its military supplies to Azerbaijan, and both countries started producing military artillery and boosting their defense sectors.
In 2012, Georgian forces joined Turkish-Azerbaijani exercises in large numbers, while in 2014, the defense ministers of the three countries decided to hold trilateral meetings twice a year and to stage more frequent military exercises.
Turkey and Azerbaijan has a number of important regional projects to be defended including the Trans-Anatolian, the Trans Adriatic, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Southern Corridor routes, as well as Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.
--
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz