Joint Turkish-Azerbaijani Military Exercises Begin, Armenia Remains Alert

The newspaper 'Zhoghovurd' reports: 'Joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises began yesterday, closely monitored by the Armenian side. The commencement of these exercises prompted a meeting between Armenia's Minister of Defense David Tonoyan and Jonathan Lacôte, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of France to the Republic of Armenia.

During the meeting, Tonoyan noted that from a purely military perspective, the tactical nature of these exercises is not concerning; however, it is crucial that the drills do not escalate into provocative actions near the borders, defense structures, and other infrastructures of the Republic of Armenia. He emphasized that the Armenian side will be attentively following the progress and developments of the exercises.

Additionally, David Tonoyan and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Onik Gasparyan held discussions with the ambassadors and military attachés of the other two co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, namely Russia and the United States. In this context, the phone conversation between the presidents of Russia and Turkey is also significant, in which they discussed the escalation of the situation along the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border. The conversation was initiated by the Turkish side, and Putin underscored the importance of preventing any actions that could contribute to escalating tensions.

Interestingly, during the same period, Russia and Iran are also conducting military exercises. Moreover, the two-week joint exercises that commenced yesterday near the Armenian border are set to include air force operations as well. Although similar exercises have taken place in previous years, this time they occur in a particularly tense environment following the July 12 escalation along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.' For more details, refer to today’s issue of the newspaper.