Tigran Abrahamyan on Turkish-Azerbaijani Military Exercises

In any situation, when we observe military exercises, there is one principle that remains unchanged: if these exercises aim to enhance the combat readiness of the Azerbaijani forces, and that is one of the primary purposes of any military exercise conducted, then it poses a problem for us, as we have not reached a definitive peace with Azerbaijan. Moreover, the situation in the post-war period is much more concerning in terms of threats than it was even before the war.

This opinion was expressed by Tigran Abrahamyan, a member of the National Assembly from the 'I Have Honor' faction, in a conversation with NEWS.am, addressing the joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises conducted near the Lachin corridor in the Kashatagh region currently under Azerbaijani control.

Abrahamyan believes that any steps aimed at increasing the combat readiness of Azerbaijani forces are naturally alarming for us. “The peculiarity of this military exercise is that it is taking place in the Kashatagh region, in areas quite close to both our controlled part of Artsakh and the territory of the Republic of Armenia. Currently, the Azerbaijani border service is actively working on both the deployment of military units and the establishment of border infrastructure in those areas. We know that the Kashatagh region, particularly the area around the Black Lakes and to the north, is a hotspot for border crises, and there have been significant movements there. Such military exercises certainly cannot contribute to ensuring overall stability, and this situation cannot avoid leading to increased tensions from this perspective. An escalation does not necessarily mean there will be provocations; it means that it will be impossible to maintain even relative stability.

Although there is still incomplete information about the types of troops or units involved, photographs that appeared in the primary media show Turkish and Azerbaijani special forces, which, incidentally, have also played a leading role in the last war and the April War. From this perspective, we must highlight the fact that the presence of Turkish units in that area is particularly dangerous.

Azerbaijan and Turkey have been quite active recently in conducting bilateral or joint military exercises. This arises from their agreement that they will act from the same positions in this region and not only in this region, which relates not only to military-technical cooperation but also to other sectoral directions. Last year, they began a rather comprehensive process of unifying and harmonizing general opportunities from diplomatic, informational, political, social, economic, and military perspectives.

Abrahamyan believes that Armenia must work on the created situation in several dimensions. “The first is, of course, the diplomatic dimension, which involves working with countries that are acting from peace positions in this region. Naturally, this is also concerning for Iran, one of our first natural allies. The second is Russia, which acts from long-term peace positions in our region and also has a concrete peacekeeping mission in Artsakh and is trying to ensure stability through the stationed 102nd military base in Armenia. The next is the co-chairing countries. Although the trilateral format is currently in a much more passive position, there is quite significant potential to work with France and the USA to try to prevent or keep Azerbaijan within certain common constraints.

The second dimension is the necessity for the presence of security systems. From the point of view of overall potential, this concerns both various subdivisions of the National Security Service and the army. In this regard, the first factor for preventing any provocation from the enemy is the existence of a strong, ready, and competitive security system. Unfortunately, in the post-war situation, aside from the losses we incurred as a result of the war, Azerbaijan, starting in November, has not only undertaken the refurbishment and replenishment of its arsenal but has also advanced externally at least in comparison to Armenia. For over 10 months, we have been discussing the national security concept related to the situation, talking about reforms to the armed forces. However, aside from a few officials who continuously talk about this, no one knows whether there is indeed such a concept or if it is merely limited to the reduction of mandatory military service, which this government actively promoted during the pre-election period. In general, there are priorities that are declared, but I have not yet seen the desired results,” noted Abrahamyan.