Azerbaijan Prioritises Expanding Relations With Central Asian Countries At Strategic Level

(MENAFN- AzerNews)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

After gaining independence, the Central Asian states, which werepart of the Soviet Union for many years, began to take steps toestablish new relations in order to strengthen their economic,political, and military potential. In order for these steps to besustainable and more effective, some close support was needed.

In 2020, the 44-day victory of Azerbaijan, which resoundedaround the world, attracted the interest of the Central Asianstates to the military readiness and strategy of the Azerbaijaniarmy. It was also the reawakening of the Turkish brotherhood, whichreflects the tradition of centuries.

Thus, the Azerbaijani armed forces have scheduled to conductjoint military exercises named The Unity – 2024 with the CentralAsian countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, andUzbekistan, in July.

The preparations for the exercises and various issues related toupcoming tasks were discussed at a conference held in Aktau,Kazakhstan.

The exercises are scheduled at Kazakhstan's Oymasha trainingground as well as at the Tyub-Karagan Peninsula in the Caspian Sea, the armies of the above countries will conduct combatreadiness tasks to identify areas of armed conflict.

Many signify it as the growing influence of Azerbaijan inCentral Asia, and as is known, relations between Azerbaijan andCentral Asian countries are getting stronger, especially followingAzerbaijan's glorious victory in the Second Garabagh War.

Speaking to Azernews on the issue, militaryexpert Ramil Mammadli noted that, in general, Central Asiancountries are important for Azerbaijan. Rather, improving relationswith Central Asian countries and raising them to a strategic levelis one of the main priorities of Azerbaijan. He said that Bakuwants to have high-level cooperation in the military field as wellas in all spheres. As observed in recent years, especially afterthe Patriotic War in 2020, Azerbaijan has formed very closerelations with the countries of Central Asia, especiallyKazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, and earlier with Pakistan,which is a neighbour of Central Asia.

“It should also be noted that the rapprochement between themilitary structures is felt more. Of course, the successes achievedby Azerbaijan in the Patriotic War-the victory in a very large andglobal process-led to an increase in the reputation of our countryboth in Europe and Central Asia. On the other hand, Central Asiancountries have not conducted any military operations during theseyears, that is, after the collapse of the USSR. No matter howgratifying this situation is, the Central Asian countries know thatimportant steps must be taken for the development of the army. Inthis regard, the experience of the Azerbaijani army is importantfor the countries of Central Asia, both in terms of the combattraining of the personnel and in terms of the capabilities of theweapon equipment park,” Mammadli said.

He pointed out that in the exercises conducted by theAzerbaijani army itself, the military personnel of the CentralAsian countries and representatives of the military forces andmilitary structures have participated and observed the combattraining, combat capabilities, weapons, and equipment park of theAzerbaijani army. There is military cooperation between Azerbaijanand Central Asian countries. The expert emphasised that, inparticular, during the First Garabagh War and after that,Azerbaijan purchased certain military munitions from Kazakhstan, works have been done in the direction of the implementationof projects.

“In recent years, the visits of the representatives of theKazakh military structures to Azerbaijan, the visits of Azerbaijanirepresentatives to Kazakhstan, and the purchase of weapons andammunition are, in a certain sense, a sign of our cooperation, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan can expand cooperation in the fieldof defence.

There are also facts such as Azerbaijan purchasing certainmilitary products manufactured in Kazakhstan and Kazakhstan buyingsome products manufactured in Azerbaijan. This, in fact, leads tothe presence and strategic level of Azerbaijan's militarycooperation in the Central Asian region, as well as its cooperationin the field of defence industry. As we know, the strategic stageof cooperation in all fields is related to the existence andstrengthening of cooperation in the military field. From this pointof view, as post-Soviet countries, we know each other well. We havea common ancestry and religion. We also cooperate with thesecountries through certain organisations. In a nutshell, thedeepening of cooperation with Central Asian countries is importantfor Azerbaijan,” the expert added.

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