Former Prime Minister: I do not expect serious threats from  Nakhijevan

ArmInfo.Against the background of the ongoing Turkish- Azerbaijani military exercises, including in the territory of Nakhijevan, and the concentration of quite serious military equipment there, the Nakhijevan direction remains a rather  serious direction. The leader of the party, former prime  minister of Armenia Aram Sargsyan expressed a similar opinion to  ArmInfo.

From July 29 to August 10, Azerbaijan and Turkey are conducting  regular, planned, joint military exercises. According to the plan of  the exercises, the drills of the ground forces will be held from  August 1 to 5 in Baku and Nakhijevan, bordering Armenia. Military  aviation exercises will be held from July 29 to August 10 - in Baku,  Nakhijevan, Yevlakh, Ganja and Kurdamir. The exercises will involve  personnel, armored vehicles, artillery and mortars, military aviation  and air defense systems of the two countries.

It is noteworthy that officially nothing was reported about the  number of personnel participating in the exercises. However,  according to Armenian military experts, from the Turkish side, just  like last time, only one army battalion is participating in the  exercises. At the same time, the joint exercises are presented by the  Azerbaijani and Turkish propaganda as unprecedented in their scale  and tasks.

"It should be noted that 2021 will be the year of clarification of  Russian-Turkish relations in the context of the centenary of the  Russian-Turkish agreement. This also creates additional tension,  including in the Nakhijevan direction. Nevertheless, considering and  analyzing the current situation as a whole, I personally do not  predict serious threats from Nakhijevan, "he said.

Sargsyan stressed that the implementation of the most negative  scenario - Turkish military attack into the territory of Armenia in  the absence of a response from Russia, seems extremely unlikely.  According to him, Moscow's passivity will make completely meaningless  the presence of the 102nd Russian military base in Armenia, as well  as Russia's membership in the CSTO. Moreover, it will deprive Moscow  of its status as a serious factor in the region.