BISHKEK April 9 (Interfax-AVN) - Kyrgyz Defense Minister Esen Topoyev met with NATO's allied commander in Southeast Europe in Bishkek on Wednesday to discuss the results of the two parties' cooperation as part of the alliance's Partnership For Peace program that was launched in Kyrgyzstan in 1994.
"About 100 various projects and programs are now being carried out under the Partnership For Peace program in Kyrgyzstan," Topoyev told journalists after the meeting.
The defense minister told Interfax that Kyrgyzstan will resume its combat exercises that were launched in 2001 and whose goal is to train special operations units to counter armed terrorist groups.
At the same time, the NATO commander assured that the alliance is ready to continue helping the country go ahead with the program. He stressed that NATO plans to send military instructors to the republic to train Armed Forces units, as well as to conduct various workshops and conferences.
During his trip to Bishkek, which is due to last until Friday, the NATO official plans to visit military universities which provide training to Kyrgyz servicemen under the Partnership For Peace program.