Turkey looks to boost defense ties with Azerbaijan

BAKU

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Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık has called for further enhancement of defense ties between Turkey and Azerbaijan, speaking to reporters in Baku after a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Zahir Hasanov.“We have good cooperation but it is still less than its true potential. Many more steps are needed. We have to cooperate more to counter the threats our sister country faces,” Işık said.He also attended the opening ceremony of the International Defense Industry Fair (ADEX 2016) along with counterparts from Azerbaijan, Djibouti, Serbia, Belarus and the United Arab Emirates.Işık said the fair, which will run until Sept. 30 and is hosting 216 defense companies from 34 countries, would help boost cooperation between Turkish and Azerbaijani firms. Turkey is participating in the fair with 42 companies.The Turkish and Azerbaijani culture ministers also stressed on Sept. 27 that defense is not the only field where the two countries are seeking to deepen ties.Turkey’s Culture Minister Nabi Avcı and his Azerbaijani counterpart Abulfas Garayev attended the Multicultural Society and Tourism Conference in Baku on Sept. 27.In his opening remarks, Garayev said “nations get richer with multiculturalism,” recalling that earlier this year Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev declared the year 2016 as the “Year of Multiculturalism” in the country.Garayev also said the number of tourists going to Azerbaijan has been increasing.For his part, Avcı said multiculturalism paves the way for people to live together “with respect for diversity.”“It is the law of living together in a pluralistic society,” he said.Stating that both Turkey and Azerbaijan are ancient and culturally rich countries, Avcı stressed that the two countries have the experience and knowledge to integrate their historic culture with the 21st century economy.He noted that Turkey remains among the world’s six top tourism destinations, despite what he described as “all the Turkophobic and Islamophobic discourse” in the West.The two ministers also vowed future cooperation for stronger relations between the old neighboring allies.