Canada, Georgia, Turkey, Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland participate in Maple Arch 2021 military exercise.
TBILISI, Georgia (AA) – Turkey participated in a multinational military drill that kicked off in Georgia on Thursday.
The exercise, dubbed Maple Arch 2021, was organized by Canada’s Defense Ministry.
Military personnel from Georgia, Turkey, Canada, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Poland took part in the drill.
The opening ceremony of the exercise was held at the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC) in the capital Tbilisi.
Speaking at the ceremony, Georgia’s Deputy Chief of General Staff Irakli Chichinadze said the exercise would strengthen military cooperation between participating countries.
The Georgian Defense Ministry said in a written statement that the aim of the drill was to increase interoperability between participating countries, strengthen defense ties and bring countries’ planning and execution processes for peacekeeping operations closer to NATO standards.
It added that this was the first time that Georgia was hosting such an exercise.