Turkey Wants Azeri Army at ‘NATO Standards’

An Azeri tank fires during a military exercise.

BAKU—Azerbaijan’s closest strategic ally, Turkey has once again voiced its ultimate support for its neighboring country. This time Ankara revealed the newest aspiration of its military cooperation with Baku – the Turkish leadership wants the Azerbaijani army to reach the “best international standards.”

“We want the Azerbaijani armed forces to advance to the level of NATO standards,” Turkish Ambassador to Baku, Ismail Alper Coskun said.

Assessing the ongoing joint military drills with Azerbaijani and Turkish troops in Baku and in Nakhijevan, Coskun told local media that Turkey cooperates tightly with Azerbaijan in the field of military along with many other spheres.

“Over the last few years we have conducted similar military exercises. The main goal is to contribute to Azerbaijan’s development in this field. The Turkish army is one of the strongest in NATO. Moving forward with our military cooperation we want to make our contribution to brother country Azerbaijan’s military,” Coskun said.