Azerbaijan, Turkey mull military cooperation

(MENAFN- AzerNews) By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijani Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov and Turkish Defence industry Executive Committee Chairman Ismail Demir have discussed bilateral military cooperation, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry has reported.

Welcoming the management of the Turkish Defence Industry Executive Committee, STM, ROKETSAN, HAVELSAN companies, and ASELSAN-Baku office, Hasanov noted developing bilateral military and military-technical cooperation between the two countries. He added that friendly and fraternal relations between the two presidents play a significant role in further expanding this cooperation.

At the meeting, the delegations discussed Azerbaijani-Turkish bilateral military cooperation and identified ways to implement joint projects between the two countries considering the new methods of conducting modern combat operations, especially the combat experience gained during the second Karabakh war, the report added.

'The development of the Azerbaijani troops as professional troops equipped with the world's most modern weapons and military equipment, including the latest information technologies and wide communications systems will ensure the covert and operational control of our troops, as well as increasing their maneuverability and combat capability in general, Hasanov said.

Earlier, Ismail Demir stated that Turkey is willing to organize the production of the defence industry products together with Azerbaijan.

"We want to develop industry together and unite the capabilities of the two countries. A roadmap will be developed to strengthen the industrial and technological infrastructure. The purchase and sale of the products are part of the initial stage. More significant steps can be taken in this direction," he said.

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.

The commission will consist of members of the Defence Industry Council under the Turkish National Defence Ministry and the Azerbaijani Defence Industry Ministry.

The task of the joint commission will be to implement the clauses of the above agreement.  On April 5, 2021,  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ratified the agreement, which was signed in Baku in 2017.

On April 1, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received Chief Technology Officer of Turkey's Baykar Company Selcuk Baytraktar in Baku. At the meeting, Aliyev stressed that Bayraktar was at the forefront of the successes of Turkey's defence industry and underlined the role of Baykar Company's products in destroying enemy equipment during the liberation of Azerbaijani territories from Armenia's occupation in a 44-day war in Karabakh in 2020.

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.

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 centre 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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