Turkey helps Azerbaijan strengthen army

By Asbarez | Wednesday, 04 November 2009

BAKU (Combined Sources)-The commander of Turkey's land forces, General Ishik Koshaner, told reporters in Baku on Monday to expect an enhancement of "military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey," reported the Azeri Trend news Agency.

Koshaner was in Baku Monday at the head of a military delegation meeting with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, according to the AzerTaj news agency. The meeting was scheduled following an official invitation from Azeri Defense Minister Safar Abiyev.

According Abiyev, the delegation was in Baku to discuss "military cooperation affairs" between the two Turkic allies. Koshaner is scheduled to hold a series of high level meetings while in the Azeri capital.

Koshaner echoed Abiyev's sentiments, saying the main agenda of Koshaner's meeting, attended also by Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilich, was "to preserve and strengthen the Turkish-Azerbaijani friendship."

"Military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey has always existed and it will be enhanced further," Koshaner said, adding that the Azeri-Turkish alliance serves as an example for "the world."

The Turkish delegation also exchanged views on the prospects of new military-technical cooperation, the current situation in the South Caucasus, and ways of resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, according to Trend.

Aliyev, for his part, expressed confidence that the Turkish-Azeri military alliance will continue "with the same success as in all other sphere of the Azerbaijani-Turkish relations."

The Azeri leader also said he hoped "Koshaner's visit to Azerbaijan will be meaningful in terms of fruitful discussions related to the prospects of cooperation in this regard."

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