According to Azeri studies expert Taron Hovhannisyan, the ‘Eternity 2019’ Turkish-Azeri-Georgian command-staff military exercises, which have taken place every year since 2014, pose no threat to Armenia and Artsakh. Taron Hovhannisyan explained this to reporters in detail. “To say that this year’s exercises specifically are dangerous and to make people worried would not be right. We can only view exercises as a way for Azerbaijan to increase its preparedness for battle. It would be difficult to view this as a warning that there will be attacks from three sides. The likelihood of that is very low. Current and future events will not allow that to take place due to the fact that it will not only harm Armenia’s interests, but Russia’s and Iran’s as well.”
Taron Hovhannisyan said that they are mainly testing out computer models during these exercises, and they are also trying to see how they can completely secure the gas pipelines.
He rejected statements that a Turkish military base is being constructed in Nakhichevan to counterbalance the Russian base. “As someone who observes Azerbaijan on a daily basis, I can confidently say that no one can present any misinformation that there is a Turkish military base in Nakhichevan with thousands of Turkish soldiers. First, they don’t have the need for that because Turkish forces can reach Nakhichevan within 40 minutes to an hour. They are very close in Igdir. If such a base were constructed, that could not go unnoticed by special forces at the very least. That would be similar to if a Turkish base were constructed in Georgia.”
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Tatev Harutyunyan
