Turkish forces arrived in Azerbaijan, to participate in joint military exercises between the two countries, after days of escalation between the Armenian and Azerbaijani armies in the Karabakh region, and the exchange of bombing of military sites.
A ceremony was held to receive the Turkish soldiers at the Umit Bridge at the Sidirik border crossing of the Republic of Nakhchivan, after the Turkish force arrived in Baku with a Turkish Air Force plane.
The ceremony included the playing of the Turkish and Azerbaijani national anthems, after which Turkish soldiers were stationed in the military units in the capital, Baku and Nakhchivan.
On July 29, the Turkish and Azerbaijani armed forces will begin comprehensive military exercises in Azerbaijan, which will last for 13 days.
The exercises will include tests of warplanes readiness in the two countries, and include the regions of Baku, the capital, Nakhchivan, Kanjeh, Kordimir, and Yulakh.
Also during the maneuvers, the readiness of the forces will be tested on the implementation of military command orders, and the firing of armored vehicles, artillery and mortars "at hypothetical enemy targets".
Simultaneously, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoغلlu said that Armenia had taken advantage of the proliferation of the Coruna virus to launch its latest attacks against Azerbaijani lands.
Today, Tuesday, during a participation in an event on the environment through video conferencing technology, the Turkish minister said that health systems and economies are in a difficult situation due to the Coruna epidemic, and that racist tendencies and discrimination have increased.
And he added: "We can also benefit from the period of fighting the epidemic for the sake of dialogue and peace. The conflict in Afghanistan is an example of this, as we renew our call to all parties to stop hostilities and focus on fighting the epidemic."
He continued: "And at a time when everyone is waiting for the clashes to stop during the epidemic period, and to benefit from them for dialogue and peace, Armenia will act in a manner that contradicts this and by using the epidemic period through its recent attacks on Azerbaijani lands."
On July 12, tensions rose again between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced that the Armenian army bombed its forces with artillery in the border area "Tuvuz".
The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan confirmed that it had reciprocated the fire of the Armenian forces, caused losses in its ranks and forced it to retreat.
Since 1992, Armenia has seized about 20% of the Azerbaijani lands that include the disputed Karagh region (which is disputed and which consists of 5 provinces), and 5 other provinces in the west of the country, in addition to large parts of the provinces of "Agdam" and "Nosy" .