Azernews.Az

By Sabina Mammadli

The Turkish army conducted new drills for ship instructors for the Azerbaijani Armed Forces personnel.

The Turkish National Defence Ministry made the remarks on its official Twitter page.

"In accordance with the concept of 'One nation - two states', we continue to be close to our Azerbaijani brothers," the ministry tweeted.

Military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey first emerged in 1992, with an agreement signed between the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments on military education and weapon equipment and deals to help strengthen the bond between the two nations.

On June 15, the two countries signed a memorandum of alliance that cemented the existing military, political and economic cooperation.

The Shusha Declaration on Allied Relations that President Ilham Aliyev and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed during the latter's first official visit to Shusha eight months after Azerbaijan’s victory in the war with Armenia, also focuses on defence cooperation.

It affirms joint efforts by the two armies in the face of foreign threats. The declaration also pledges joint efforts for the restructuring and modernization of the armed forces. Moreover, the two nations affirm to encourage the execution of joint projects with the aim of developing capabilities in the field of sea, air, and space.

After the Azerbaijani and Turkish parliaments' approval of this strategic document, the two presidents recently ratified it.

President Ilham Aliyev said that the signing of the Shusha Declaration raised bilateral relations to an even higher level.

Turkey's Presidential Administration described the document as very important for the future of the two peoples because the Azerbaijan-Turkey relations are reaching a completely new level thanks to this declaration.

"The Shusha Declaration is such a declaration that covering all spheres of previous and current Azerbaijan-Turkey relations, brings them to the stable future," the Presidential Administration said.

It also stressed that according to the declaration, Azerbaijan and Turkey will continue to make efforts to strengthen stability and security in the Caucasus region, restore all economic and transport ties, as well as normalize the relations between the regional countries and ensure long-term peace.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz