Turkey And Azerbaijan To Hold Large-Scale Winter Military Drill Near Armenia’s Border

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The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are preparing for the most comprehensive winter drill in recent years, the Turkish military said in a statement on January 17^th.

The drills will take place in Turkey’s eastern Kars province. The drill is expected to feature Turkish-produced weaponry and equipment.

VIDEO — Turkish, Azerbaijani militaries to conduct joint winter drill in eastern Kars provincehttps://t.co/p4Gu9tedXD pic.twitter.com/IxUgyqyUfi

— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) January 17, 2021

Tank divisions, cannonries, sniper teams, personnel of the Special Forces Command, helicopters and commandos will also participate in the drill.

The drill will take place between February 1^st and February 12^th, and will also feature domestically developed weaponry and equipment.

According to the report, the drill will mostly focus on operational capabilities during the harsh weather conditions of winter months, including practices of sheltering, reinforcement, maintenance and educational development.

The Kars province in which the exercise is taking place is bordered to Armenia.

The Azerbaijan Ministry of Defense made a statement on the matter:

“Servicemen of the Combined Arms Army will also take part in the Winter Exercises-2021 to be held in the Kars city of the fraternal Turkish Republic. The ceremony for departing the military personnel and military vehicle involved in the exercises to the place of the exercises was held.

…

After the speeches, the units involved in the exercises left the Nakhchivan city to move in the direction of the Sadarak border checkpoint. Our units crossed the Umid Bridge over the Araz River and continued to move towards the Kars city.”

The last time Turkey and Azerbaijan had a joint military drill was back in July, when Baku accused Armenia of carrying out attacks on its border checkpoints.

The war exercises began on July 29, with August 5 being the last day of ground engagements – which included artillery, armored vehicles and mortars striking simulated targets – in the capital Baku and the exclave of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan’s autonomous region bordering Turkey, and Armenia.

On January 18^th, the Azerbaijan Ministry of Defense released the photos, names, surnames, information about military ranks, and date of birth of 2855 servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan who died in the Karabakh war, between September 27^th and November 9^th.

In Nagorno-Karabakh, residents of the Drmbon village of the Martaket region of Artsakh appealed to the leadership of the Russian peacekeeping contingent with a request to provide an opportunity to pass along the Martakert-Vardenis road.

The road that connected Artsakh with Armenia, according to a trilateral statement of November 9, came under the control of Azerbaijan.

At his annual press conference, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov answered questions about the situation in Karabakh:

• Now the main question is the return of the prisoners, there were initially about 62 people. These are the people who were captured after the signing on November 9th. But it turns out that there are actually more of them.
• On the Armenian side, the lists of prisoners of war were not drawn up immediately and completely.
• It is necessary to continue to consider the issue in an “all for all” context. This is also the opinion of President Putin.
• At the moment, the peacekeepers are verifying the names of the POWs with the Azerbaijani and Armenian forces.
• Trilateral statement on Karabakh has no secret attachments
• Since the status of Karabakh is problematic, the leaders of the three countries decided to leave its decision for the future.

The situation is largely calm, and the Russian peacekeepers appear to be holding the situation under control.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• Security Situation In Nagorno-Karabakh On January 18, 2021 (Map Update)
• Azerbaijan President Continues His Victory Tour Of “Liberated Territories”, While Russians Keep The Order