Turkey, Azerbaijan to hold joint regular security meets

Turkey and Azerbaijan will hold joint regular "national security" meetings in a bid to further deepen their unique "two states-one nation" principle, a senior Turkish official has said, stressing that a recently signed bilateral agreement paves the way for extending the scope of military and security cooperation between the two allies.

The Turkish Parliament ratified the Shusha Protocol, a blueprint the two countries' leaders signed in June 2021, with Azerbaijan last week. At a meeting at the parliament's Foreign Committee, Deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Selim Kıran informed lawmakers about the content of the protocol, daily Milliyet reported on Feb. 7.

Azerbaijan and Turkey enjoy a long history and deep cultural and linguistic bonds, Kıran said, stressing that the Shusha Protocol is creating a very solid structure to level up these ties to the strategic partnership and alliance.

According to the information provided by Kıran, the protocol will determine political and legal structures for the establishment of alliance relationship between the two countries.

"In this context, we are committed to providing the necessary assistance and coordination of the armed forces in accordance with the United Nations charter when there is a threat to our independence, sovereignty or territorial integrity," Kıran was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Joint regular security meetings

With the protocol, Turkey and Azerbaijan underline their commitment to jointly exerting efforts to resolve the problems and conflicts that concern regional and global security, he stated.

"We are planning to execute regular joint meetings between our national security councils. What we mean is the cooperation of our National Security...