Shusha declaration: pattern of unique power in Turkic World

By Fatime Letifova

The signing of the Shusha Declaration by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Shusha on the alliance relations between the two countries has a special political and historical significance.

The signed Declaration of Alliance elevates the relations between the two countries to a high level. Thus, Azerbaijan-Turkiye relations have now reached their highest peak. The fact that the peoples have the same ancestry, language, religion, culture and many other mutual ties has always made the countries close to each other, and the two Turkish peoples were by each other's side in all times.

In a comment on the topic for Azernews, Turkish reserve general Yücel Karauz said that the Shusha Declaration is the most strategic agreement in the world.

"There are political and economic cooperation agreements between countries in the world. However, an agreement covering political, military, and cultural fields to this extent is just the Shusha declaration," the expert said.

Karauz drew attention to the military cooperation between the two countries.

"If we look at it from the point of view of security, as per Article 5 of NATO, any attack against Azerbaijan and Baku is considered as an attack against Ankara and Turkiye. Similarly, an attack against Turkiye is considered as an attack against Azerbaijan," the military expert stressed.

From this point of view, both military combat work and defense industry work have started to improve. In this context, issues such as the joint production of Bayraktar, raiders, ATAK helicopters of TAI, HURKUSH, HURJET and Kaan aircraft have been brought up.

The expert spoke about the exchange of military experience between the two countries. He said that Azerbaijan has transitioned to the army model of the Turkish Armed Forces.

"Within the framework of military education events, activities such as student exchange, increasing the number of unit commander exchange exercises, creating a common airspace between Turkiye and Azerbaijan, and creating an air-tactical landscape were carried out, and the Azerbaijani army moved to the army model of the Turkish Armed Forces. Besides, as a result of the establishment of commando units and the National Defense University, the Azerbaijani army has moved to the army model of NATO's second and the world's eighth strongest army," Karauz added.

The general also touched upon the military exercises between Azerbaijan and Turkiye following the declaration.

"During the 3 years following the signing of the declaration, a joint meeting of the national security councils, as well as the joint activities of intelligence organizations, and then their members, were carried out," the expert said.

Yucel Karauz announced that Azerbaijan and Turkiye have made a great contribution to the understanding of the Turkic world.

"Another important point is that this declaration is an agreement that ensures the coming together, strengthening and encouragement of new cooperation between the two Turkish states. Within the framework of this agreement, Turkey and Azerbaijan have almost switched to the philosophy of one nation, two states, and state institutions have begun to perform complementary and supporting functions in a coordinated manner.

Yucel Karauz said that it is possible to divide the relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey into two parts, before the Shusha Declaration and after the Shusha Declaration.

"Although Turkish-Azerbaijani relations have a long history, the relations between the two countries should be evaluated separately before and after this declaration. Because, as I mentioned earlier, it is a limited model of cooperation in world political history," the military expert said.

The general spoke about President Erdogan's upcoming visit to Shusha.

"The signing of the peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia forces Azerbaijan and Turkey to act together, show common sense and a decisive position. This week Mr. President Ilham Aliyev and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed this in Ankara. Therefore, Turkey and Azerbaijan, especially now, are one breath, one heart," the military expert concluded.