TURKISH-GEORGIAN-AZERI BLOC TO BE FORMED

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey will support the reforms carried out in the armed forces of Azerbaijan and targeted at the integration into the NATO, Baku media reports. On this occasion a group of Turkish officers will visit the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, State Security Service and internal troops to make some proposes on the further activities. According to a source in the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, the agreement was achieved during the recent visit of Deputy Head of the Turkish General Staff Ilker Bashbug. Turkey promised to increase the amount of assistance destined for conduction of a number of reforms in the Azerbaijani armed forces. During the negotiations the parties discussed the staff training and established new directions of the financial and technical cooperation. Turkey will re-consider the issues referring to military units dislocated in the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic. The source noted that Turkey has recently allocated $3 million for providing the above mentioned units with clothes, food, medicine and means of communication. According to the source, in the near future Turkey will sign a new agreement on activation the technical provision of the Azerbaijani armed forces. The Turkish party also offered assistance for the construction of a new military airdrome in Nakhichevan. Conduction of joint maneuvers of the Turkish gendarmerie with the Azerbaijani State Security Service and internal troops for the guard of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. The source also informed that the formation of a Turkish-Azeri-Georgian military bloc will be discussed during the meeting of the Defense Ministers of the three countries in Baku this summer. "The formation of such a military bloc has been discussed during three years already. However due to some organizational issues as well as the presence of the Russian military bases in Georgia it was protracted. To all appearances the launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline will accelerate the formation of the bloc. Within the frames of the bloc Turkey will promote the integration of the armed forced of Azerbaijan and Georgia into the NATO. Turkish officers in their turn will provide consultations on the reforms carried out in the armed forces of both states", the source says. To note, Ukraine's joining the bloc is not ruled out. The Azeri Defense Ministry officials stated that the relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan are regulated by the Agreement on Military and Technical Cooperation. They also noted that Turkey and Azerbaijan cooperate in all the fields including military education and staff training.