Defense Ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey held the first trilateral meeting on August 19 in the Azerbaijan exclave of Nakhchivan.

Defense ministers of the three countries agreed to hold meetings in the trilateral format on a regular basis once in six months. Foreign ministers of the three countries are already holding such trilateral meetings regularly since 2012 and the first trilateral summit of Presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey was held in Tbilisi in May, 2014.

Azerbaijani Defense Minister Colonel General Zakir Hasanov hosted his Georgian and Turkish counterparts, Irakli Alasania and İsmet Yılmaz, respectively, in the army headquarters in the city of Nakhchivan.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that the ministers of the three countries “considered it appropriate” to hold joint exercises and trainings including on protection of regional gas and oil pipelines, as well as holding of seminars and conferences to enhance cooperation in education and military-technical sphere. According to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, it was agreed to also hold trilateral meetings on technical expert level to help increase interoperability of the armed forces of the three countries.