Turkey's two-week large-scale international winter military exercise in the eastern province of Kars ended today.
Starting on January 18, the "Winter Exercise-2023" had military representation from 16 friendly and allied countries, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Germany and the United Kingdom.
On Thursday, Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, along with his Azerbaijani counterpart Zakir Hasanov and his Georgian counterpart Zvanser Bursulandze, attended the exercise's distinguished observer day.
A total of 2,113 people participated in the exercise and over 650 vehicles and 860 weapon systems and means were used. The purpose of the exercise was to ensure cooperation and coordination in the execution of combined and joint operations, to test the combat capabilities of the units, including firing in deep snow and extreme cold, and to improve the timing of fire and maneuver by simulating the battlefield in all its dimensions.
Other objectives included improving the level of training in populated areas, housing, living, supply and maintenance activities in the field and enhancing winter survivability, as well as ensuring the operation of command and control systems in winter conditions.
The exercise aimed to develop individual and collective training, give commanders the opportunity to lead and manage their units in winter conditions and improve joint training of troops with the forces.
The Winter Exercise in Kars is held every two years
An Azerbaijani Tank Sub-Unit Commander told the state-run Turkish news agency Anadolu that participating in the exercises with his Turkish brothers had filled him with "pride". "The weather has been cold here, but it is not important for us. Our love and bond with Turkey warms us," said Lt. Nicat Isgenderli.
He added that they learned how to maneuver the tanks in difficult conditions such as fog and smoke, saying: "The exercise was very beneficial for us."
On February 1, 2023, the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, General Zakir Hasanov visited Turkey at the invitation of the Minister of National Defense of Turkey Hulusi Akar on the Day of Distinguished Visitors in the framework of "Winter Exercises - 2023" held in Turkey.
Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar welcomed Zakir Hasanov at the airport. In particular, the Minister of Defense of Georgia Juansher Burchuladze also participated in the Day of Distinguished Visitors.
Later, a tripartite meeting was held with the defense ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia. At the meeting, views were exchanged on military training and cooperation and regional developments. The defense ministers of the three countries had previously met in Kayseri, on December 21, as part of the Turkey-Georgia-Azerbaijan defense ministers' meeting.
Finally, the Turkish Ministry of Defense in his statements after the end of the exercise said: "Winter exercise-2023, was successfully completed. This exercise shows the level of the Turkish army. I am proud that the exercise was successfully carried out in such conditions. This showed how the Turkish army is ready in any condition. I congratulate the friendly and brotherly countries that attended the exercise."
Turkey "embraces" Georgia militarily
The 2 meetings of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Turkey-Azerbaijan-Georgia in a period of 40 days and in fact on Turkish soil and the participation of the last 2 in the "Winter Exercise 2023", reveals the Turkish effort to woo Georgia after Azerbaijan.
Georgia's strategic position in relation to Armenia, an enemy of Turkey and Azerbaijan, lends another dimension to Ankara's attempt to embrace Tbilisi
Turkey, taking advantage of Russia's involvement in the war in Ukraine, seeks to strengthen its influence in Moscow's "southern yard" to which Georgia belongs, in order to become an energy hub for natural gas and of its export to the EU.
The consequences for Greece
Turkey-Azerbaijan military cooperation is known to have as a provision, according to the Susa Declaration, the joint military involvement of the two countries against a third country that will find itself in a war confrontation with one of the two.
This provision is photographic for Greece, and based on it, in the event of a military engagement between our country and Turkey, we should expect that it will be reinforced by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan.
This is further emphasized by the fact of the many joint exercises of the two countries, culminating in the training in the Aegean in the framework of the Turkish multi-branch exercise "EFES-2022", the Special Forces Unit of Azerbaijan which, according to the scenario of the exercise, occupied micro island.
Now we see that slowly but surely Turkey is deepening its military relations with Georgia, having in mind, in our estimation, to sign an agreement similar to the one with Azerbaijan. This development would be equally negative for Greece, since Turkey would also increase its strategic depth.
Here is revealed a serious deficiency in our view, presented by our country's arsenal, which is Strategic weapons, such as very long-range surface-to-surface, sea-to-surface and air-to-surface missiles.
In particular, the acquisition of the former is judged to be directly imposed by Greece, after Erdogan's threats to hit Athens with the long-range Typhoon missile that Turkey advertises as having.
Turkey has a much larger area than Greece and its strategic depth is expanded even more with the Susa declaration, including the territory of Azerbaijan already, which will take on even greater dimensions in the event of a similar agreement in the future with Georgia as well.
Therefore, it is imperative that Greece immediately acquires Strategic weapons, capable of hitting the entire Turkish territory and beyond.
