Azernews.Az

An Azerbaijani group has hit out at the participation of the country`s servicemen in an international military exercise that involved military men from arch-foe Armenia.
The Azerbaijani Way political movement issued a strongly-worded statement concerning the training, which started at the Vaziani military base outside the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Tuesday with the participation of US, Ukrainian, Azerbaijani, Georgian and Armenian servicemen.
"Azerbaijan has been at war with Armenia for 20 years. Tens of thousands of Azerbaijanis have fallen throughout these years and about a million of our citizens are leading the lives of refugees, and hundreds of our citizens are still in captivity. A ceasefire has been in place for 14 years, but it merely remains on paper. This being said, participating in a military exercise jointly with Armenian servicemen does not withstand any criticism," the statement said.
The movement termed this is as "counter to the norms of political ethics" and "an insult of the Azerbaijani people".
"We demand that Baku give up participation in military exercises held jointly with the enemy state," the Azerbaijani Way said.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. The OSCE-brokered peace talks have been fruitless so far.
The Defense Ministry spokesman Eldar Sabiroghlu said local media outlets had omitted errors in covering the exercises under way in Georgia.
"This is a training being held between the U.S. and Georgia which had been planned beforehand. Later, Georgia announced that other countries could join it. Azerbaijan was also addressed over participation. By mere chance, Armenia joined the event as well. Terming this as a joint exercise [with Armenia] is wrong."