Azerbaijan, Turkey hold joint tactical exercises

Estonian soldiers participate in the final battle of the annual Spring Storm military exercise in Tapa, northern Estonia, on May 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Sergei Stepanov)

BAKU, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Azerbaijan and Turkey kicked off a five-day joint military exercise in Azerbaijan's western Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Monday.

"In accodance with the memorandum of understanding signed between the governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Turkey, the joint tactical exercise involving troops of armed forces of the two countries began in Nakhchivan on June 12," the ministry said in a statement.

It added that the exercises are designed to check the troops' ability to perform complex tasks, develop coordination between the troops and achieve interoperability between the military units of the two countries through the development of capabilities for joint operations.

The current drill follows an ongoing 10-day trilateral military exercise launched on June 5 that involves troops of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia.

Military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey started in 1992 with a bilateral agreement signed on military education. Since then, the two governments have been closely cooperating in defense and security.