Azerbaijan plans joint military exercises with Georgia, Turkey

Azerbaijan announced joint military exercises with Georgia and Turkey on Sunday, plans which are likely to raise tensions with neighbouring Armenia a day before talks in Vienna over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The territory, which lies inside Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians, has run its own affairs with heavy military and financial backing from Armenia since a separatist war ended in 1994.

A ceasefire agreed on April 5th after an outbreak of fighting has been violated every day, say locals. “To increase the combat capabilities and combat readiness of the Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia, we deemed it worthwhile to carry out joint military exercises,” Azeri defence minister Zakir Gasanov said on Sunday.

It was not immediately clear when the exercises, which have also taken place in past years, would happen. A spokesman for the Armenian Defence Ministry did not comment on the implication of the exercises for Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

Soldiers killed

Several soldiers, from both sides, have been killed since the ceasefire was declared. An Azeri soldier died on Thursday near Nagorno-Karabakh, said Azerbaijan’s defence ministry.

Armenia said its serviceman Aram Ohanyan died on Saturday after being shot by an Azeri sniper near the southwest Armenian border, in an incident unrelated to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Both the Azeri and Armenian presidents, as well as diplomats from Russia, the US and France, will meet in Vienna on Monday to discuss the situation.

– (Reuters)