BAKU. July 19 (Interfax-AVN) - Baku will participate in a Russian military exercise on the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliyev told journalists on Friday.
Azerbaijan will join in as a full-fledged participant, not as an observer, Aliyev said before leaving for the Crimean resort of Yalta to attend a summit of GUUAM, an informal regional association of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said earlier that the maneuvers, which would start on August 8, would involve all structures of the Russian military organization for the first time in Russian history.
In addition to army units, taking part in the exercises will be railroad troops, the Federal Border Service, the Emergencies Ministry, the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Interior Ministry troops, and units of the Transportation Ministry.
"About 60 warships will take part in the exercises on the Caspian Sea, including the flagship of the Caspian flotilla, the escort ship Tatarstan," Ivanov said.
Representatives of all the Caspian states have been invited to monitor the exercises, Ivanov said.