shrem.az reports with reference to the science.gov.az website that on September 8, a meeting was held with the delegation of the Natural Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey on a visit to Baku in the building of the Presidium of ANAS.

Speaking at the event, Academician Isa Habibbeyli, president of ANAS, pointed out that the second meeting of the ministers of the member and observer states of the Organization of Turkic States on natural disaster and emergency management was held in Baku. Recalling that President Ilham Aliyev received the ministers of the Turkish states participating in the events held in Baku, Academician Isa Habibbeyli emphasized that our country attaches great importance to relations with the Turkic world.

Saying that the great leader Heydar Aliyev's words "One nation, two states" form the basis of the relations between our countries, the head of ANAS, thanks to the close friendship and brotherly relations of President Ilham Aliyev and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Azerbaijan-Turkey relations reached the level of strategic alliance with the "Shusha Declaration" in recent years and said that it has risen to the level of military alliance. He noted that from the first hours of the Patriotic War, Azerbaijan felt the open support of the leadership of the brotherly country and the 85 million Turkish people, and our people will never forget it.

Academician Isa Habibbayli said that ANAS closely cooperates with the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA), Atatürk Institute of Culture, Language and History and many higher educational institutions. He pointed out that symposia were held, researches were conducted, publications were created, and personnel exchanges were made. Academician Isa Habibbeyli, who noted that the Republic Seismological Service Center under ANAS has close cooperation relations with AFAD, emphasized that the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation on Earthquake Monitoring Systems signed between the parties will take our relations to a new stage. He said that one of the items reflected in the Memorandum of Understanding is the construction of a seismic station by AFAD in Shusha, and the work in this direction will be completed soon. The head of ANAS also said that the said document contains items such as the establishment of seismic stations in the territories freed from occupation, conducting joint research, exchange of experience and software, and said that today's meeting will make a positive contribution to achieving the future goals.

After the speech, Orhan Tatar, head of AFAD's Earthquake and Risk Reduction Department, expressed his satisfaction with being in our country and at the Academy, and conveyed the greetings of Ali Yerlikaya, Minister of Interior of Turkey, and Okay Memish, head of AFAD.

Sharing his memories of the terrible earthquake that occurred in Turkey in February of this year, Orhan Tatar said that Azerbaijan was the first country that came to help from the first hours of the incident and expressed his gratitude. Touching on the importance of learning from this disaster, the AFAD official said that Azerbaijan is also located in a seismic zone and emphasized the need to unite our forces.

Orhan Tatar pointed out that despite the fact that AFAD was established in 2009, it has a lot of experience and important works have been done in the direction of reducing earthquake risks. Saying that the transfer of AFAD's technologies to Azerbaijan is one of the main goals of the institution, O. Tatar said that the construction of the seismic station in Shusha, which is the first step taken in this direction, will be completed soon and invited the management of ANAS to Turkey.

General Director of the Republic Seismological Service Center under ANAS, corresponding member Gurban Yetirmishli said in his speech that relations with Turkish seismic institutions started from the first years of our country's independence, and they participated in joint international projects. He emphasized that cooperation with an institution with great experience like AFAD will make a positive contribution to future joint activities. Gurban Yetirmishli also informed about the research conducted by the employees of the Seismological Center under his leadership in the Kahramanmarash region after the terrible earthquake that occurred in Turkey on February 6, 2023. He also gave a presentation on the activities of the Center, seismic station, earthquakes recorded during the year and conducted research.

Academician Arif Hashimov, the first vice-president of ANAS, academician Arif Hashimov, officials of AFAD, Vedat Ozsarac, Mahammad Maruf Yaman and others spoke at the event and said that the Memorandum of Understanding will give further impetus to the development of relations between our countries and institutions.

After the meeting, AFAD representatives visited the Earthquake Research Bureau of the Republic Seismological Service Center and discussed software.