The Turkish personnel assigned to work in the joint monitoring center in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh arrived in Azerbaijan, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced Tuesday.
"Our staff went to Azerbaijan and stands by there. After the construction of the joint center is completed and it goes operational, one of our generals and 35 military officers will start their duty immediately," Akar said in a virtual year-end evaluation meeting.
Turkey's Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler, other military commanders and senior authorities were in attendance at the meeting. Addressing defense and security issues, Akar recalled that Azerbaijan liberated its lands from Armenia's occupation after nearly 30 years.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered agreement on Nov. 10 to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution. Turkey and Russia later signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint center to monitor the peace deal. It will be established on Azerbaijani territories liberated from Armenia's occupation.
Around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have been deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh under the terms of the cease-fire deal and are expected to stay in the region for at least five years. The Turkish Parliament also last month overwhelmingly approved the deployment of Turkish peacekeeping troops to Azerbaijan after Turkey and Russia signed the deal on establishing a joint center to monitor the cease-fire in the region.
Earlier in December, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the center will be established in the Aghdam region. Akar underlined that Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in the region are also clearing mines and improvised explosives. Two Special Mine Detection and Clearance Teams, consisting of 135 mine clearance specialists of the TSK, have been supporting the Azerbaijani troops in regions liberated from Armenia's occupation. The Turkish troops are also training Azerbaijani soldiers in mine detection and clearance techniques and tactics.
"As part of the humanitarian aid activities, we did our best to support our Azerbaijani brothers and sisters, and we will continue to do so. We have supported them in their rightful and honorable struggle, and we will continue to do so," he added.
In another statement, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Tuesday that Turkish and Azerbaijani military personnel conducted joint efforts to detect and destroy mines in the Aghdam region recently liberated from Armenia's occupation.
"A group on the clearance of mines of the Turkish Armed Forces in our country and the units of the Engineering Troops of Azerbaijan fulfill the tasks of engineering support in the liberated Aghdam region," said a ministry statement.
It said that the troops cleared "sowing plots and connecting roads" of mines and unexploded shells. While releasing footage of these operations, the ministry said, "Activities on the detection and disposal of unexploded shells and mines in liberated territories are being continued."
Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions.
When new clashes erupted on Sept. 27, the Armenian military launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the nearly three-decade-long occupation.
The truce is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia, whose armed forces have been withdrawing in line with the agreement.
Despite the agreement ending the conflict, the Armenian military has violated the agreement several times, killing a number of Azerbaijani soldiers and a civilian and wounding a few people, according to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.