After humiliation by Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh in August, President Aliyev has tried to find some consolidation in joint maneuvers with the Turks, Director of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies Manvel Sargsyan told ArmInfo on Tuesday.
"His only goal here was to show his own people and the world that Azeri maneuvers involved Turkey's air forces. Aliyev is just trying to console himself after the August humiliation. But since we have received almost no reports from the maneuvers, it seems that nothing special has happened there. They didn't even mention where the maneuvers were held. So, it looks like a political campaign. But who was its addressee is not clear," Sargsyan said.
Sept 13-20 Azerbaijan held large-scale maneuvers involving all types of Azeri forces and some Turkish planes. Over 30,000 soldiers, 250 armored vehicles, 150 missile and artillery systems, 20 planes and 15 helicopters took part in the event.
Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said that it was a scheduled event. "The maneuvers are being watched and are posing no threat for us," he said.