Azerbaijan announced the beginning of the exercises of the special forces of three countries

Joint exercises of the special forces of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Pakistan begun on 12 September in Baku, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry said.

According to the ministry, joint training battles of special forces "Three Brothers-2021" will be held in Baku for the first time.

The purpose of the exercises, in which special forces units of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan will take part, is to practice interaction skills during hostilities, prepare for operations in peacetime and wartime, as well as exchange knowledge and experience, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry said on its website on September 11.

It is noted that the joint exercises will last until September 20.

From 6 to 11 September, joint exercises with Turkey were held in the Lachin region of Azerbaijan. The soldiers have worked out the skills of conducting reconnaissance, organizing ambushes, detecting, and destroying saboteurs.

Turkey sends generals to Azerbaijan

On 11 September, Azerbaijani media reported on the establishment of a Task Group Command of the Turkish Armed Forces in Azerbaijan with four Turkish generals in their presence.

According to the report, Maj-Gen Bahtiyar Ersay is the head of the group, Brig-Gen Ender Guner is the chief of the group's General Staff and Brig-Gen Abdullah Katirci is the commander of the Joint Centre of the Task Group Command in Azerbaijan. Gen Zekeriya Yalcin has become Turkey's new military attaché in Azerbaijan.

Apparently, the Azerbaijani media referred to reports in the Turkish media on new appointments in the Turkish army in late August.

It said one of the mentioned generals, Brig-Gen Abdullah Katirci, heads the Turkish mission at the Russian-Turkish Joint Monitoring Centre in Agdam, Karabakh. Also, the Turkish Army's Task Group has been operating in Azerbaijan since 1992 and coordinating military cooperation between the two countries.

The change was made due to the growing number of joint military exercises and deepening cooperation between the Turkish and Azerbaijani armies.

Next stage of Azerbaijani-Turkish naval drills wraps up

The Azerbaijani and Turkish underwater offence and defence groups have ended the next stage of their joint military exercises, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry reported on September 10.

As a part of the drills, the underwater groups successfully rescued the ship captured by hypothetical enemies in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, the report added.

The report also stated that two countries' special forces fulfilled the assigned tasks and performed high professionalism with the involvement of helicopters and boats.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan and Turkey simultaneously hold the TurAz Falcon - 2021 joint flight and tactical drills in Turkey’s Konya city.

The drills are aimed at improving coordination and communication between the air forces of the two countries. The drills will last until September 17.

On September 6, the Azerbaijani and Turkish military units started to conduct joint tactical drills in Azerbaijan’s Lachin region.

The drills are being held under the military cooperation agreement between the two countries. They envisage improving interaction and combat coordination between the servicemen during operations and developing commanders' military decision-making and unit management skills.

Military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey first emerged in 1992, with an agreement signed between the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments on military education, 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 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 modernisation of the armed forces. Moreover, the two nations affirmed encouragement for the execution of joint projects with the aim of developing capabilities in the fields of sea, air, and space.