Azerbaijan, Turkey discuss military situation in region

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani and Turkey’s military officials have exchanged views on the military situation in the region.

Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov met outgoing military attaché of the Turkish Armed Forces to Azerbaijan Hasan Nevzat Tasdeler on August 11, the Azerbaijani defense ministry said.

They stressed the importance of high-level reciprocal visits, and exchanged views on the military-political situation in the region, military-educational issues.

The sides emphasized the necessity of solving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying this will help establish peace and security in the region.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

Hasanov presented jubilee medal "95th anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan" to the Turkish military attaché.

Earlier, chief of Azerbaijan's State Border Service Elchin Guliyev met with outgoing military attaché.

Azerbaijan and Turkey's relations have always been strong due to their common culture and history and the mutual intelligibility of Turkish and Azerbaijani languages.

Turkey was the first country in the world to recognize Azerbaijan's independence in 1991 and has been a staunch supporter of Azerbaijan in its efforts to consolidate its independence, preserve its territorial integrity, and realize its economic potential that arises from the rich natural resources of the Caspian Sea.

Ankara also supports an irreversible approach in its foreign policy agenda in regard to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. It has made clear it wants Armenia to immediately and unconditionally leave the region in view of restoring Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders.

Turkey unequivocally refuses to open its borders with Armenia until the latter withdraws from Azerbaijan's occupied lands.