Azerbaijan holds military parade right after Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Far more than 3,000 troops took component in a military services parade in Azerbaijan on Thursday to rejoice reclaiming management above broad swathes of Nagorno-Karabakh and encompassing lands in a conflict with Armenia.

The parade attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who strongly backed Azerbaijan, also concerned dozens of armed forces autos, and a flyby of fight aircraft. The exhibit, which also highlighted a Turkish commando brigade and Turkish drones, was held a month following a Russia-brokered offer finished six months of intense combating more than Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev showered Turkey with praise, hailing its help for the ex-Soviet Caspian Sea nation as “an instance of our unity, our brotherhood.”

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within just Azerbaijan but was less than the management of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there finished in 1994. That war left Nagorno-Karabakh alone and sizeable encompassing territory in Armenian arms.

In 44 days of battling that began in late September and remaining much more than 5,600 people killed on both of those sides, the Azerbaijani army pushed deep into Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing Armenia to settle for a Russia-brokered peace deal that noticed Azerbaijan reclaim considerably of the separatist area alongside with surrounding areas.

In his speech, Erdogan reiterated Turkey’s continued assist to Azerbaijan, declaring that “as lengthy as Turkey and Azerbaijan do the job hand in glove, they will keep on to triumph over all difficulties and run from just one good results to the up coming.”

Erdogan voiced hope that Armenia would “take lessons” from its defeat and pointed out that Turkey was all set to reopen the border with Armenia if it normally takes unspecified “positive measures.”

Turkey and Azerbaijan have shut their borders with Armenia at any time because the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted, a blockade that has weakened the economic system of the landlocked country.

“As prolonged as constructive steps are taken, we would open up our gates, which ended up closed,” Erdogan mentioned. “It’s not that we want to maintain our doors closed to Armenia … we have no enmity with the people today of Armenia. Our issue is with the Armenian leadership.”

The Nov. 10 peace offer grew to become a important trauma for Armenians, triggering a month of protests calling for the resignation of the country’s primary minister, Nikola Pashinyan. Pashinyan has refused to phase down, describing the peace agreement as a bitter but vital move that prevented Azerbaijan from getting more than the whole Nagorno-Karabakh.

As Aliyev and Erdogan viewed the parade in Baku, various thousand folks in Armenia’s money demonstrated in front of the authorities setting up to press the demand for Pashinyan to resign. Protesters experimented with to enter the building but were being pushed back again by police who arrested scores.

Affiliated Push writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia, and Daria Litvinova and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, contributed to this report.