TBILISI. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Turkey will help Georgia adjust the national army to NATO standards, Colonel General Zafer Ozkan, chief of the logistics support service in the Turkish General Staff, told a news briefing on Monday.
Ozkan arrived in Tbilisi as part of a Turkish military delegation on Saturday. Members of the delegation held negotiations with Georgian Defense Minister David Tevzadze and Chief-of-Staff of the Armed Forces Dzhoni Pirtskhalaishvili and visited the 11th motorized rifle brigade based in the former 137th Russian base in Vaziani.
According to sources in the Georgian Defense Ministry, the officials discussed the provision of financial aid to the Georgian Armed Forces needs. Turkey has provided USD28m worth of financial aid to Georgia in the past four years, the sources said.
Turkey considers Georgia to be an important country, and stability and security in Georgia influence the situation not only in the Trans-Caucasian region but in a much broader area, Ozkan said. That is why Turkey is ready to help Georgia establish strong economy and powerful army to contribute to the stability in the region, he added.
According to the Turkish party, 180 Georgian officers have been trained in Turkey in the past few years. Turkey also financed the training of 526 military specialists of various profiles in the Georgian Military Academy.