Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Georgia hold defense ministers’ meeting in Shusha

The 13th trilateral meeting of the defense ministers of Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Georgia was held in Shusha. The talks focused on regional security, defense cooperation and strengthening ties among the three countries.

Participants included Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov; Türkiye’s National Defense Minister Yaşar Güler; and Georgia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Irakli Chikovani.

Regional security and joint exercises

Zakir Hasanov welcomed his counterparts and stressed the importance of maintaining high-level political relations among Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Georgia. He said the trilateral format had developed into a regional cooperation mechanism that contributes to peace, security and stability.

The ministers exchanged views on emerging security challenges and noted the importance of coordinated action against factors that could threaten regional stability. They underscored that mutual trust and cooperation support the well-being and security of the populations of all three countries.

The sides described the “Eternity” and “Caucasian Eagle” exercises as important platforms for strengthening military cooperation, exchanging experience and improving the defense capabilities of the armed forces. The ministers expressed their intention to expand trilateral defense cooperation.

Defense cooperation discussed

The talks also covered military and military-technical cooperation, military education and military medicine. The defense ministers of Azerbaijan and Georgia offered condolences to their Turkish counterpart over service members killed in an aircraft crash and expressed solidarity with Türkiye and its people.

At the end of the meeting, the sides signed a protocol reflecting the results of their discussions. At a subsequent news conference, Zakir Hasanov described the talks as useful and said he was pleased with the pace of cooperation among the three countries.

Hasanov said Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Georgia planned to further expand and deepen their defense ties.