Turkey and Azerbaijan Launch "Atatürk 2023" Drills

Azerbaijan announced today, Monday, that it has begun "a series of joint military exercises with its close ally Turkey, the first since Baku regained control over the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region last month, which led to most Armenians in the area fleeing." The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense stated in a release: "Up to three thousand military personnel are participating in the exercises, named after the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk." It added: "The drills are taking place throughout Azerbaijan, including in Baku and the Nakhchivan exclave bordering Turkey, as well as in what the ministry calls 'liberated territories' in Karabakh." Turkey shares close linguistic and cultural ties with Azerbaijan and has provided military and political support to Baku during its ongoing three-decade conflict with Armenia, with which Ankara does not have formal diplomatic relations.