Azerbaijani, Georgian, Turkish Defense Ministers Discuss Cooperation, Regional Security

Defense Ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, Zakir Hasanov, Levan Izoria and Hulusi Akar, respectively, held their seventh defense ministerial in the Azerbaijani city of Gabala on June 12, and discussed, among others, defense cooperation and regional security.

Minister Izoria said that the cornerstone of security in the region is set by the internationally recognized principles, which recognize each country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“I want to again express our unwavering support for Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, in its internationally recognized borders,” he stated.

Izoria then underscored that today’s meeting is yet another step “for strengthening regional security. “We once again enhanced the strategic partnership among our countries in a number of fields, and in defense in particular,” Minister Izoria said.

Speaking on importance of carrying out joint military exercises, Izoria said the three ministers agreed to engage Georgian servicemen in bilateral Azerbaijani-Turkish drills as well. He also thanked his Azerbaijani and Turkish counterparts for their interest to join annual multinational military drills held with United States and NATO in Georgia.

“The dynamics of cooperation are growing, deepening, strengthening, which serves the main strategic goal of our partnership – to ensure peace, security of our countries, our population, and to further strengthen our strategic partnership,“ the Georgian Defense Minister stated.

On the sidelines of the ministerial, Minister Izoria held separate meetings with his Azerbaijani and Turkish counterparts as well.

The first meeting of defense ministers in the trilateral format was held in August, 2014 in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, where the sides agreed to hold the ministerial meetings on a regular basis. Foreign ministers of the three countries have also been gathering in the trilateral format since 2012.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)