In October of 2018, a series of military drills took place in Nakhichevan aimed at coordinating operations between Nakhichevan’s local military with other militarised institutions in the planning of operations and the managing of personnel. A specialised radar system, the RP-10, was tested out during the drills, which is operableContinue Reading
Recent changes on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan bring to light a new development. Between December 2018 and April 2018, military positions from both sides were extended, in one case apparently into Georgian territory, and modified highlighting the ongoing tension between the two states. Location of border outpost modificationsContinue Reading
The little information available on Nakhichevan, let alone military activity in the autonomous republic sparked even more interest to conduct a brief investigation based on the geospatial analysis of locations in the official footage provided by the Azeri Defence Ministry. Today, 07 June 2019, Azeri and Turkish military units startedContinue Reading
According to official notifications from the Azeri and Nagorno Karabakh Defence Ministries, as well as each’s respective Foreign Ministry, the OSCE Minsk Group has conducted 104 ceasefire monitoring missions at military outposts along the line-of-contact that separates Nagorno Karabakh (officially called the Republic of Artsakh) and Azerbaijan, and along theContinue Reading
What lies behind the military exercises conducted by Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia and why does each one publish the kinds of information on this matter that it publishes? Considering the official publications of the respective defence ministries of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh, and considering the particular circumstances andContinue Reading
Over the years, the webpage designs of the Ministries of Defence of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh have changed over the years. With each change the webpages were made more interactive, with a growing emphasis on photos rather than long texts to portray the message. Nagorno Karabakh Observer’s archive bringsContinue Reading
Little is known about the defence industry in Armenia. Local private, public and semi-public companies that produce, investigate, test out products destined for the Armenian Armed Forces tend to be quite conservative in regard to public announcements, however, the industry seems to be very active and booming. Compared with Azerbaijan’sContinue Reading
In recent months there has been much talk of Azeri State Border Service (SBS) troops replacing Armed Forces troops at military positions along a segment of the Azerbaijan-Armenia border, precisely a segment near the cities of Qazakh and Agstafa. SBS troops came to man military positions in mid-December, leaving theContinue Reading
On 26 December apparently two incidents took place: Baku claims Armenian’s opened fire on a cemetery near the village of Mireşelli, wounding an elderly woman; Stepanakert on the other hand claims there was a shootout at an Azeri military outpost between Azeri soldiers in the same area that resulted in eitherContinue Reading
Recently a few articles were published on the authorities in Baku building up military forces in the province, or how it is officially known, the Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan. This region of Azerbaijan, which is also the stronghold of current President Ilham Aliyev’s Nakhichevani elite, borders Armenia to the southwestContinue Reading
Footage and satellite imagery from the past several months highlight demolitions of ethnic-Armenian churches, homes, residential buildings and even a village in Nagorno Karabakh. The demolitions were carried out by Azerbaijan’s government, now fully in control of the territory. The entire Armenian population of 120,000 fled to Armenia proper
Mayors of the three major cities of former Nagorno Karabakh, have been arrested by Armenian authorities coinciding with a growing opposition movement with whom they may have been associated with. The mayor of Karabakhi capital Stepanakert, and those of Askeran and Martakert cities have been detained by Armenian authorities. Stepanakert
On 24 May, 2024, Armenia’s Defence Ministry reported that the country’s prime minister nominated five colonels to be promoted to the rank of major general. This is one of the highest numbers of officers promoted to such ranks in one act in recent years. These career advancements possibly indicate loyalty,
Azerbaijan’s defence minister receives large Turkish delegation headed by the country’s deputy defence minister and the heads of numerous Turkish defence firms. The two sides discussed further military coop. including joint weapons production. Interestingly, Turkish general Bahtiyar Ersay appears in a complete Azeri military uniform on Azerbaijan’s side of the
In January 2024, footage emerged of what appear to be Azeri military personnel in the ethnic-Armenian village of Hakaku, Nagorno Karabakh (NK). The village, along with the entire territory of NK were overran by Azerbaijan’s military during it’s offensive in September 2023. One of the first sources of the footage
Since approximately 2020, mystery aircraft have been spotted flying around Azerbaijan’s northwestern Dallar airbase, 30 km from Armenia’s border. They were spotted a month prior to the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war and had been seen numerous times since. The aircraft had not been able to be explicitly identified through open
