Yerevan Says Important To Prevent Provocations During Azerbaijani-Turkish Military Drills

Yerevan Says Important to Prevent Provocations During Azerbaijani-Turkish Military Drills

Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan noted during a meeting with French Ambassador in Yerevan Jonathan Lacote the importance of preventing provocations in the immediate vicinity of the Armenian borders during the Azerbaijani-Turkish military exercises, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday

YEREVAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th July, 2020) Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan noted during a meeting with French Ambassador in Yerevan Jonathan Lacote the importance of preventing provocations in the immediate vicinity of the Armenian borders during the Azerbaijani-Turkish military exercises, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, the Azeri Defense Ministry said that it will hold together with Turkey large-scale land and air force military drills in five regions from July 29 to August 10.

"Touching upon the Turkish-Azerbaijani joint military exercises, David Tonoyan noted that from a military point of view, their tactical nature is not worrying, but it is important that the military exercises do not turn into the provocative actions in the immediate vicinity of the RA [the Republic of Armenia] borders, defence structures and other infrastructures," the ministry said in a statement.

The minister also noted that Yerevan would attentively follow the military exercises and further developments, the statement added.

"Presenting the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border and on the line of contact of the Artsakh and Azerbaijani forces in recent days, the Minister of Defence emphasized the role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs the Russian Federation, the United States and France (as a member state of the UN Security Council, EU and NATO) in easing tensions and continuing the negotiation process," the ministry said.

In July, an armed confrontation broke out on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, notably far from where the two usually exchange hostilities in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The clash took place near the Movses village along the contact line between Armenia's Tavush province and Azerbaijan's Tovuz province. Yerevan and Baku blamed the initiation of the firing on each other.