BAKU, July 21. /TASS/. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry has dismissed reports about establishing a Turkish military base in the territory of the country.

"Media reports about establishing a military base of any foreign state on the territory of Azerbaijan have no grounds and do not correspond to reality," Deputy Defense Minister Ramiz Takhirov said on Thursday.

Several media reported that a Turkish military base would be established in the territory of Azerbaijan. Last Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on adopting an inter-governmental protocol on leasing to Turkey buildings and facilities in the Gyzyl Sharg military town and a terminal at an aerodrome in the Hajji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev village near Baku.

Takhirov said that the aerodrome in Hajji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev has been used since 1999 for transporting Azerbaijani servicemen participating in peacekeeping missions in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan by Turkish Air Force aircraft. "According to the approved protocol, a building located on the territory of the Gyzyl Sharg military town and used since the 1990s was leased to a Turkish military attache in our country. This protocol provides a legal opportunity for those who lease the building to carry out repair and restoration works there," the deputy defense minister said.