The military exercises in Nagorno-Karabakh were of both specific military and political significance. They were aimed to check NKR Defense Army’s combat readiness. Meanwhile, it was a clear message to official Baku that the resumption of hostilities in Karabakh conflict zone will be fraught with grave politico-military consequences. Azerbaijan will pay a high price for the war as an initiator of military hostilities, Deputy Director of Caucasus Institute Sergey Minasyan told the reporters on Monday.

According to him, these military exercises have been the largest maneuvers since cessation of hostilities in 1994. Moreover, the quantity of military equipment and artillery surpassed the number of armaments used by Karabakh troops during large-scale military operations in 1993-94, he noted.

“According to my estimates, heavy artillery and rocket weapons, armor, more than 350 units only tracked armored vehicles, including tanks, infantry combat vehicles, self-propelled artillery guns, as well as army air force were used during military maneuvers,” Minasyan stressed.

The expert emphasized Karabakh forces have repeatedly practiced military operations at night and under difficult climatic conditions even during the hostilities of 1992-1994, which was a guarantee for successful operations.