TBILISI. April 16 (Interfax-AVN) - Army General Oktar Ataman, commander of the NATO Joint Command Southeast, studied on Tuesday preparations for a NATO exercise at the Georgian Defense Ministry's base in Vaziani, a spokesman for the ministry told Interfax-Military News Agency.
The Turkish general arrived in Tbilisi to supervise the last conference on planning the Cooperative Best Effort 2002 exercise. The conference is underway at the Tori military hotel in Tbilisi, the spokesman said.
According to Ataman, his current trip "has a specific goal to hold the conference and more general goals, as the visit is a part of the Georgian-NATO cooperation program." Ataman stressed that the NATO leadership considered it necessary "to assess the situation in the Georgian Armed Forces on the spot" and determine what kind of aid NATO can provide to its Georgian partners, including in modernization of military infrastructure and conduction of corresponding seminars and conferences for officers of the Georgian Armed Forces.
Commenting on the results of the Vaziani base inspection Ataman said that the Georgian party was progressing in preparations for accommodating participants in the multinational exercise in June.
Also on Tuesday, Ataman negotiated with high-ranking officials of the Georgian Defense Ministry.
The Cooperative Best Effort 2002 exercise will take place at a proving range of the former 137th Russian military base in Vaziani in July this year. The defense ministries of 13 NATO member nations and their partners have confirmed their participation in the war games.