Baku disclaims reports on Turkey’s military build-up in its territory

Reports on the establishment of any foreign military base in the territory of Azerbaijan are groundless and do not correspond to reality, according to Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister of Defense, Armed Forces Commander, Lt. General Ramiz Takhirov.

Takhirov says they have just rented a building in the territory of Gyzyl Sherg military town to the office of Turkey’s military attaché in Azebaijan in conformity with the protocol signed by the president. Under the document, the renter can repair the building, the deputy minister says.

Since 1999, Azerbaijan has been using the airdrome located not far from the military town to send Azerbaijani officers to peacekeeping missions to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. One of the terminals at the airdrome has rest rooms for the maintenance team and pilots.  Since the Azerbaijani peacekeepers are dispatched to Afghanistan and back by Turkish transport aircrafts, the given building has been rented to Turkey.

“An hour before an aircraft lands at the airdrome, a representative of Turkey’s military attaché opens two rooms here. While the aircraft undergoes technical maintenance, refueling and other short-term procedures, pilots have a rest in these rooms. After the aircraft takes off, the rooms are closed and transferred to the constant security of the Azerbaijani side, and the representatives of Turkey’s military attaché leave the territory,” the commander says.

Earlier, haqqin.az reported that Azerbaijan has provided two facilities in its territory to the Turkish army for deployment of troops, military equipment and combat jets. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree transferring the buildings in the military town Gyzyl Sherg and a terminal at the military airdrome in Zeynalabdin Tagiyev village to the military personnel of the Turkish Armed Forces.