UPDATE - Azerbaijani president receives head of Turkish defense company Baykar

ADDS MEETING BETWEEN HEAD OF TURKISH DEFENSE COMPANY AND AZERBAIJANI DEFENSE MINISTER

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Azerbaijani president on Monday received the head of Turkish defense company Baykar in the capital Baku.

In a statement, the Azerbaijani presidency said that during the meeting with Selcuk Bayraktar, Ilham Aliyev underlined the achievements of Türkiye’s defense industry in recent years, adding that Baykar’s operations played a leading role in this regard.

The statement said Aliyev “highlighted the role of the products manufactured by the company in the destruction of Armenian invaders’ military equipment during the Patriotic War.”

“The successful development of friendly and brotherly relations between Azerbaijan and Türkiye in all fields including the military and defense industry was stressed during the conversation. They also shared views on prospects for cooperation,” it further said.

Bayraktar, for his part, conveyed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s greetings to Aliyev and thanked him for the aid provided to Türkiye in the aftermath of the February earthquakes.

More than 50,000 people were killed by the back-to-back quakes in Türkiye, according to the latest official figures. Thousands of others were injured.

Aliyev, according to the statement, recalled his recent meeting with Erdogan in Ankara.

He said the Turkish president’s visits to Azerbaijani territories liberated from Armenia’s occupation are of “particular importance,” it added.

Bayraktar thanked Aliyev for his “warm hospitality.”

"We will continue to work for our #KIZILELMAs, the common future of #OneNationTwoStates," he said on Twitter.

- Head of company awarded medal 'for services in field of military cooperation'

Bayraktar later held a meeting with Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov.

"Noting that the military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Türkiye is based on friendly and fraternal relations, the minister stressed that over time, these relations have further developed and strengthened," a statement by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry read.

It also said the relations between the presidents of the two countries play an important role in the development of bilateral cooperation.

"Thanking for the warm welcome and hospitality, S. Bayraktar expressed satisfaction with the visit to our country and noted the special significance of such meetings in terms of expanding mutual cooperation," the statement further noted.

The meeting discussed "the current state and prospects for the development of military-technical cooperation between Azerbaijan and Türkiye," it added.

"The Minister of Defense awarded S. Bayraktar with the medal 'For Services in the Field of Military Cooperation'," the statement concluded.