Turkey extends troop deployment in Azerbaijan

Turkey extends troop deployment in Azerbaijan
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Update: 02 November 2022 21:49
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Turkish parliament extended a mandate to the government to station troops in Azerbaijan to monitor a 2020 ceasefire agreement between Baku and Yerevan

Turkish parliament on Tuesday extended a mandate to station troops in Azerbaijan for another year to monitor a ceasefire deal between Baku and Yerevan.

The renewed mandate will come into force on Nov.17, according to Turkish Official Gazette.

On Nov.17, 2020, Turkey’s national assembly granted a permission to the government to deploy military personnel to Azerbaijan to monitor a ceasefire deal between the country and Armenia, following a war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Turkish troops along with Russian peacekeepers started operations to prevent possible violations of the ceasefire via a joint monitoring center in January 2021, established in Agdam, a region reclaimed by Azerbaijan during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh war which saw six weeks of fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia in autumn 2020. Turkey backed Baku during the conflict.

Ankara and Moscow signed an agreement on Nov.11, a day after the Russia-brokered truce deal, for the creation of the joint center.

According to the Azerbaijani defence ministry, the monitoring center would be staffed by up to 60 troops each from Turkey and from Russia.