Armenia and Karabakh Conduct Large-Scale Military Drills

YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — The armed forces of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have been engaged in large-scale military exercises these days, a Defense Ministry spokesman in Yerevan confirmed on Thursday.

Artsrun Hovhannisian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) that the drills are a scheduled arrangement. “From year to year these drills become more upgraded in terms of their nature, depth and professional features in accordance with the requirements of the time,” he said.

The Defense Ministry official described the military exercises as “multifaceted and diverse”, saying that they involved both current armed forces and reserves.

“The goal of any exercises is to raise the combat readiness of the armed forces,” Hovhannisian added.

The official representative neither confirmed nor denied media reports about assemblies of reservists, adding that the reserve force is also part of the armed forces. However, he did not link the drills to the current situation at the Armenian border with Azerbaijan. According to him, the situation at the borders is relatively calm today.