Azerbaijan: Joint military drill with Turkey May 1-5

Event

On May 1, Turkish and Azerbaijani armed forces launched joint military drills, which will conclude on May 5. The goal of these exercises is to reinforce cooperation between the two countries’ militaries. Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense announced that around 1000 troops are participating in the drills, which have incited major criticism from authorities in Azerbaijan’s breakaway region Nagorno-Karabakh. The region’s own armed forces have announced that they are closely monitoring the situation.

Context

Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia have a long-standing dispute over the possession of Nagorno-Karabakh, home to some 150,000 inhabitants (mostly ethnic Armenians) and located in the west of Azerbaijan. This issue has fueled tensions between the two countries since 1988; some 30,000 people were killed in fighting from 1990 to 1994. The two countries declared the most recent ceasefire in April 2016 after the region experienced four days of violent clashes that left hundreds dead. However, isolated but regular clashes continue in the area of the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact.

Joint military drills between Turkey and Azerbaijan are seen as a provocation for Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh due to the long standing history between Armenians and Turkey. Armenia denounces Turkey’s refusal to officially recognize the 1915-1917 Armenian genocide, carried out by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

Advice

Western governments generally advise their citizens against all travel to Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas.