Defense ministry says Azerbaijani military exercises are attempt to exert pressure ahead of Pashinyan-Aliyev summit
Large-scale military drills planned by Azerbaijan represent at attempt to exert pressure in the context of the possible meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry Artsrun Hovannisyan wrote on his official Facebook account on Friday.
"In accordance with the Vienna document, notifications should be issued on military drills if they involve at least 9,000 people, 250 tanks or 500 military armored vehicles, 250 self-propelled and towed artillery weapons, mortars and multiple rocket launchers. We did not receive any notifications from OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] and consider the planned military exercise to be an attempt to exert pressure in the context of the meeting between Pashinyan and Aliyev," Hovhannisyan said.
To remind, Azerbaijan announced on Friday that large-scale military exercises will be conducted under the supervision of the country's minister of defense in the period of March 11-15. The exercises will involve up to 10,000 military personnel, up to 500 tanks and other armored vehicles, up to 300 missiles and artillery systems of different caliber, multiple launch rocket systems, and mortars, up to 20 army and front-line aviation for various purposes.