On 3 September, the joint military exercise “Eternity 2019” between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey has kicked off in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku and will last until 6 September.

During the exercises, which will consist of theoretical and practical parts and will be held both in the Center for War Games of the Armed Forces and in field conditions, representatives of the military units and relevant government agencies of the three countries will fulfil the tasks on protecting regional economic projects.

The event speakers emphasized the important role of the exercises in strengthening mutual cooperation and ensuring interoperability between the Armed Forces of the three countries. It was noted that these exercises are significant in terms of enhancing the knowledge of participants in ensuring the security of joint strategic projects of international importance passing through the territories of the three countries, developing their operational, training and analytical skills, as well as improving the interoperability between units providing protection for these projects.

The “Eternity” format of military exercises between the three countries exists since 2017, when Georgia was the first host, followed up by the excise in 2018 hosted by Turkey. The three countries signed a partnership agreement in 2018 to further enhance military cooperation between them. At the conference of the defense ministers of the three countries on 12 June 2019 in Gabala, the Azerbaijani defence minister Zakir Hasanov invited Georgia to participate in the bilateral Azerbaijan-Turkey military exercises (Caucasus Watch reported).