Your trusted source

The Turkish-Azerbaijani joint military exercises, which were initially scheduled for July 29-August 10, have in fact been extended. Tigran Abrahamyan, the head of Yerevan-based Henaket analytical center, said in a Facebook post.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said the Turkish national defense minister and army chief are today expected to arrive in the country to observe the “final episode of the first stage of the exercises.”

“Let me repeat myself that according to the previously announced plan, the military drills were to end on August 10, but for some reason they are still going on,” the Armenian analyst wrote.

“It is still difficult to predict how many stages these exercises will have or what new course they will take, but it is obvious that the officially announced timeframes are not being observed.

“Taking into account the complex politico-military situation in the region and the stalled negotiations, the current developments may stir more tensions,” he added.

Abrahamyan states in this regard, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries have a lot of work to do to neutralize new regional threats, “to curb Turkey's appetite and to bring Azerbaijan back into the political arena.”