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International arms control treaties, including those within the framework of OSCE, of which members are Armenia and Azerbaijan , provide mechanisms for controlling military exercises, First Deputy Defense Minister of Armenia David Tonoyan told ‘Military Force’ TV program when he was asked whether there are any international mechanisms to control quantitative indices of military drills and ensure their transparency.

He said that in particular, the 2011 document adopted in Vienna says that the participating states shall notify all the other participating states of an exercises involving up to 9,000 troops, or up to 250 battle tanks or up to 250 of artillery, mortar or rocket launcher systems of 100 mm caliber or larger caliber. If such drills are not envisaged by the previous year’s plan, then the other states shall be notified of the drills at least 42 days in advance, D. Tonoyan said adding that although “Shant” and “Unbreakable Brotherhood” drills held in Armenia did not exceed these quantitative limits, nevertheless they have been announced according to OSCE-established procedure to ensure transparency and mutual trust.

In response to the remark that Azerbaijani media reported that drills will be conducted in Azerbaijan on September 6-13 with the involvement of 65,000 troops, 700 troop carriers, 500 rocket and artillery systems, 40 aircraft and helicopters, D. Tonoyan said that judging from those numbers, the drills should have been announced in advance, which was not done. So there is no need for more comment regarding the difference in the arms control policies of Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said.