Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament has endorsed two military cooperation documents with Turkiye, which allow the procurement of weapons, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Turkiye, with funding from this country, as well as the training of Tajik military personnel in Turkish military training centers.
A regular sitting of the fifth session of the Majlisi Namoyandagon of the sixth convocation, presided over by its head, Mahmadtoir Zokirzoda, took place on April 11.
Presenting the military and technical cooperation agreement, the Tajik Defense Minister Sherali Mirzo said the Turkish government will allocate 50 million Turkish liras (US$1.5 million) and Tajikistan will be able to buy with that money weapons, ammunition, UAVs and modern devices from Turkiye’s military-and-technical enterprises.
“The allocated funds may be used for the purchase of goods and payment for services of Turkish companies within the framework of the bilateral military and technical cooperation,” Sherali Mirzo said.
According to him, the implementation of this agreement will contribute to further expansion of military-technical cooperation between the two countries.
“The endorsement of this agreement is important in the context of growing modern threats and intensification of international terrorism and extremism,” the Tajik defense minister added.
The agreement reportedly stipulates that funds allocated from the Turkish budget must be used by Tajikistan within five years.
If the cost of military equipment exceeds 50 million liras, Tajikistan will pay the additional amount.
Under the second cooperation document, Turkiye will allocate 2 million liras (US$62,000) for training of Tajik military personnel in Turkish military training centers.
Sherali Mirzo noted that the allocated funds will be used to pay expenses associated with organizing training of Tajik military personnel at Turkish military schools and training centers as well as visits of Turkish military personnel to Tajikistan.
This agreement reportedly stipulates that Tajik military personnel will be able to take training in Turkish military training centers without expenditure of Tajikistan’s budgetary funds.
Both documents were signed on the margins of the 16th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) 2023, which was held in Istanbul on July 25-28 last year.
Meanwhile, some media outlets reported last year that Tajikistan and Turkiye signed a military cooperation agreement and a financial aid protocol on July 26 last year on the sidelines of the 16th International Defense Industry Fair.
Recall, the then Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and the Tajik Defense Minister Sherali Mirzo signed the military frame agreement in Turkiye’s capital, Ankara, on April 21, 2022.
It is to be noted that Tajikistan’s Ambassador to Turkey Ashrafjon Gulov met in Ankara with Hulusi Akar on January 18, 2022 to discuss increasing bilateral cooperation on defense.
Besides, Turkish defense minister was in Tajikistan in July 2021. On July 1, 2021, Akar was received by Sherali Mirzo with a military ceremony at Tajikistan’s Defense Ministry.
The Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Turkiye established diplomatic relations on January 29, 1992.
Both are members of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), an Asian political and economic intergovernmental organization.
Tajik–Turkish relations are friendly and cooperative and underlined with a legal basis of more than 65 treaties and protocols which have been signed between two countries since 1991.
The Turkish Agency for Cooperation and Coordination (TIKA) in Tajikistan plays an important role in the development of bilateral relations between the two countries. Dozens of projects were implemented in Tajikistan by this Agency.
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