NATO members, Eurasian countries hold joint exercise in Turkey

ANKARA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- A total of 19 NATO member states and Eurasian countries are holding a joint command exercise in Turkey, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday.

Hosted by Turkey's Third Army Corps, the "Eurasian Star-2010 Computer-Aided Command Exercises" started on Dec. 7 and will end on Dec. 15, Colonel Erol Tuna, director of the Third Army Corps for public relations, was quoted as telling a news conference in Istanbul.

Altogether 962 military officials took part in the exercise, coming from NATO members including Turkey, the United States, Germany, Bulgaria, France, the Netherlands, Britain, Spain, Italy, Canada, Romania and Greece as well as Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia and Serbia, said Tuna.

The exercise was aimed at enhancing the training level of headquarters personnel in operational planning and execution and improving cooperation in a peace support operation under the NATO command, said the report.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-12/14/c_13649012.htm.