STEPANAKERT. Nov 3 (Interfax-AVN) - Ashot Gulian, the foreign minister of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, has denied that the defense ministries of four self-proclaimed republics, particularly Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Transdniestria, will conduct command-post exercises by the end of the year.
"There are no agreements on conducting any exercises in which Nagorno-Karabakh would take part," Gulian told Interfax on Tuesday.
The minister said he views such reports as "a desire of certain countries and political circles to invest the Nagorno-Karabakh army with functions not characteristic to it or explore Nagorno-Karabakh's response to the possibility of using its army in a different way," he said.
"Apart from protecting the borders and providing for the people's security, the Nagorno-Karabakh defense army does not have other jobs, especially outside its territory," he said.
A source with the Abkhaz Defense Ministry told journalists last week that the four defense ministries would practice repelling military aggression by the end of the year.