Armenia and Azerbaijan joined talks Monday in Tehran seeking to ease tensions between the arch foes, which soared with Baku's lightning offensive to retake the long-disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
However, the same day as the meeting, Azerbaijan announced the start of joint military drills with its ally Turkey near the border with Armenia just weeks after Baku seized Karabakh from pro-Yerevan separatists.
The talks are seen as Moscow's attempt to reduce growing Western influence in the Caucasus -- a region it has long considered as its backyard. Russia, the traditional power-broker in the region, has seen its role diminished since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.Ahead of the talks, Azerbaijan's defence ministry said Monday it had begun joint drills with its ally Turkey near the border with Armenia -- weeks after Baku seized the long-disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region from pro-Yerevan separatists.
The exercises -- dubbed"Mustafa Kemal Ataturk 2023" -- involve dozens of artillery weapons and aviation. Tensions are running high between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a month after Baku's lightning offensive. Armenia said it is ready to reopen transport communications between mainland Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan via its territory under condition that its sovereignty over the area is not questioned.Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan and for decades home to a majority Armenian population, was at the centre of two wars between Yerevan and Baku -- in 2020 and in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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