Azerbaijan holds military exercises with Türkiye near Armenian border

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said up to 3,000 soldiers were taking part in the tactical exercises held in the capital Baku, the Nakhichevan region between Iran and Armenia, as well as territory recaptured from Armenian separatists, according to AFP.

Dozens of weapons and aircraft are also taking part in the exercise. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry stressed that the new exercise is aimed at "ensuring combat interoperability" between the allies.

Azerbaijani and Turkish soldiers during a military exercise in Azerbaijan in December 2022

Dailysabah.com screenshot

The Azerbaijan-Türkiye drills come more than a month after Azerbaijan launched a lightning offensive against Armenian separatists and recaptured the Nagorno-Karabakh region. After that attack, nearly all of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenians, some 100,000 people, fled to Armenia, triggering a refugee crisis.

New military exercises between Azerbaijan and Turkey are likely to be closely watched by Western countries. The French Foreign Ministry said Paris would consider whether the joint exercises posed a threat to Armenia.

The October 23 drills come as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Türkiye, Iran and Russia prepare to send their foreign ministers to Tehran for talks in a diplomatic format initiated by Moscow in 2020, after Baku and Yerevan clashed over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The upcoming talks are seen as an effort by Moscow to reduce growing Western influence in a region that Russia has long considered its backyard.

Russia has repeatedly mediated the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, but has reportedly seen its role diminished since it began its military campaign in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, according to AFP.

Meanwhile, the United States and the European Union have in recent years taken a leading role in brokering a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/azerbaijan-tap-tran-voi-tho-nhi-ky-gan-bien-gioi-armenia-185231023204420634.htm