On September 27, the director of the Heydar Aliyev Higher Military School of Azerbaijan, Major General Fizuli Salakhov stated: “The Azerbaijani army has completely switched to the Turkish format. Training, programs, equipment and staff structure, management is already in a new format.”
Speaking about the approval of the Turkish model in the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, F. Salakhov noted: “For more than a year, training has been conducted with new programs. We believe that this model of education will be more powerful and effective. Future officers will be more educated in terms of both management and decision-making ability.
The exchange of experience with Türkiye helped us move to a new learning model. Our teachers and servicemen were educated in the leading military schools in Türkiye. In the near future, students will come from Türkiye to study with us.”
Today, when we are witnessing the Turkish-Azerbaijani rapprochement in the military sphere, along with the “one nation, two states” and the consistent formation and implementation of the “one army” principle, and Türkiye is involved in both the military and diplomatic aspects of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, it is appropriate recalled on July 27, 2020, the belief of Lilit Makunts, the head of the “My Step” faction of the National Assembly, currently the de facto ambassador of Armenia to the United States, in Turkish “impartiality”: “Having assessed the impotence of its armed forces, the authorities of Azerbaijan are doing their best to involve Türkiye in this conflict. I think Türkiye will not take such a step and will not be a party in any way. When it comes to Azerbaijan’s aggression against the Republic of Armenia, in the case of Türkiye becoming a side, it will be perceived in the world in the context of the Genocide. In the case when many countries of the world have recognized the Armenian Genocide, and Turkey is involved in various conflicts in different regions, Türkiye’s actions will not be understood by many countries.”
The Azerbaijani aggression, which continues to this day, and started two months after this speech by Makunts, who has such shallow ideas and perceptions regarding Türkiye’s foreign policy and national interests, made the Turkish-Azerbaijani close interdependence in both the military and diplomatic spheres even more prominent. Even today, Türkiye largely conditions the settlement of Armenian-Turkish relations with Azerbaijan factor, the conclusion of peace on Azerbaijani terms, and the opening of the so-called “Zangezur Corridor”.
Serious analytical skills are not necessary to conclude the Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises organized almost every month. During both the First and Third Artsakh Wars, Türkiye supported Azerbaijan by directly supplying weapons and ammunition and reforming Azerbaijan’s military education sector, tactics, and training Azerbaijani army officers in Türkiye and participating in the construction of Azerbaijan’s army by sending Turkish instructors.
As for Türkiye’s intervention being “perceived in the context of genocide” by the world, if the de facto authorities of the state that survived that tragedy and is still surviving today do not pursue the demands of all Armenians, and they abort it step by step, the international community is unlikely to be interested in putting pressure on Türkiye.
On August 16, 2010, the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gul, and the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, signed the “Strategic Cooperation and Mutual Assistance Agreement between Turkey and Azerbaijan”, by which the parties undertook to assist in the event of an attack by a third country on one of the parties. In addition, to carry out joint military operations, according to the agreement, the parties must improve military infrastructure, conduct joint military exercises, and initiate steps to ensure multilateral combat readiness of the armed forces of both countries. This contract became one of the most important elements to create modern combat-ready armed forces for Azerbaijan.
According to the agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkey on August 11, 1992 “Cooperation in the field of military education”, every year hundreds of Azerbaijani servicemen go to Turkey to receive education in Turkish Armed Forces institutions. On June 15, 2022, the Deputy Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan announced that the number of Azerbaijani military personnel studying in Turkey has increased and currently 200 officers are receiving education in various institutions of the Turkish Armed Forces[4]. It is also necessary to add that in 2021 With the so-called “Shushi Declaration” of June 15, Turkey and Azerbaijan became committed to deepening bilateral cooperation, including in the military sphere.
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