BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 5 (UPI) -- Azerbaijan and Tajikistan have signed an agreement on military cooperation.
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev and Tajik Defense Minister Shirali Khayrulloyev signed the agreement in Baku on June 1.
AssA-Irada reported Thursday that Abiyev told a news conference after the signing ceremony, "I believe the document will positively influence the expansion of bilateral ties in the area of defense and serve to establishing stability in the Caucasus and Central Asia."
The document provides for holding joint military exercises and training of personnel.
Abiyev told Khayrulloyev that large quantities of weaponry and ammunition are stored in Azerbaijani territories under Armenian occupation. As the USSR collapsed in 1991, Azerbaijan and Armenia became embroiled in a shooting war. In 1994, a cease-fire was signed.
About one-seventh of Azerbaijan's territory is occupied by Armenian forces, and Azerbaijan has 800,000 refugees and internally displaced persons.
Tajikistan and Azerbaijan are also involved in NATO's Partnership for Peace program and the Commonwealth of Independent States, a union of 11 former Soviet republics.
