THE Commander of Turkish Land Forces, General Hayri KIVRIKOĞLU visited EUFOR ALTHEA on 5 March 2013, and was welcomed by the Commander of EUFOR (COM EUFOR), Major General (MG) Dieter HEIDECKER.

COM EUFOR explained EUFOR’s current mission priorities, particularly the challenge of disposing of surplus ammunition and weapons stock piles within Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and EUFOR’s key role in capacity building and training for the Armed Force of BiH (AF BiH).

The importance of raising AF BiH to an international level of professionalism, with consistent standards of interoperability, readiness to deploy and ability to self-sustain in operations was highlighted in the discussions. These capabilities are essential pre-requisites for BiH’s path to EURO-Atlantic integration.

General KIVRIKOĞLU was interested and proud to hear of the significant value being added to Operational ALTHEA by soldiers from the Turkish contingent. Their range of tasking includes: the operation of several Local Observation Houses, being a major troop contributor to the EUFOR Multi-National Battalion and providing military skills training for the AF BiH.

Chief Press Officer:
Lt Col Otmar Lindner
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Spokesperson:
Lt Cdr Gareth Jones RN
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