Turkey dispatches general, 35 military officers to Azerbaijan to monitor ceasefire deal

Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said that one Turkish general and 35 military officers have been already dispatched to Azerbaijan to monitor a truce over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region from a joint Turkish-Russian peacekeeping center. "After the construction of the joint center is completed and it goes operational, our one general and 35 military officers will start their duty immediately," Akar said on Dec. 29.

Tuesday December 29 2020 08:43 pm

Armored personnel carriers of the Russian peacekeeping forces drive along a road near Lachin in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh on Nov 13 in this file photo.

Duvar English

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said that Turkey has already dispatched one general and 35 military officers to Azerbaijan to serve in a joint monitoring center to monitor the truce over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region together with Russia.

"Our staff went to Azerbaijan and stands by there. After the construction of the joint center is completed and it goes operational, our one general and 35 military officers will start their duty immediately," Hulusi Akar said in a virtual year-end evaluation meeting on Dec. 29.

Turkey’s Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler, other military commanders and senior authorities also attending the top-level videoconference meeting.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered agreement on Nov. 10 to end the fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Turkey and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint center to monitor the peace deal. It will be established on Azerbaijani territories.

Earlier in December, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the center will be established in the Aghdam city.

Azerbaijan has been pressing for Turkey, which has supported Baku in the conflict, to take an active role in the peace talks.

Russia has repeatedly said that Turkey's involvement will be limited to the work of the monitoring center on Azerbaijani soil, and Turkish peacekeepers would not go to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the center will operate remotely, using drones and other technical means to monitor possible violations.