International drills in Georgia cause concern in separatist South Ossetia
The de-facto foreign ministry of Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia has expressed "concern" about the international military drills held on Georgian territory, it reported on 6 October.
"Any military drills held on the territory of the aggressor country cause serious concern in the republic of South Ossetia and are assessed as a provocative step aimed at deliberately shattering the military and political situation in the Transcaucasus region (South Caucasus)," the de-facto foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry was referring to the Eternity-2021 drills held in Georgia on 4-8 October with 200 Georgian, Turkish, and Azerbaijani soldiers participating.
The statement also says that such drills make it clear that Georgia continues to count on "using force to seize the territory of (so-called) South Ossetia.
Earlier, Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia, condemned the drills as a "provocative move" aimed at "encouraging Georgia's military ambitions," the so-called Abkhaz Foreign Ministry stated.
The so-called Abkhaz ministry said that by securing military aid from the USA and NATO, Georgia opted to deepen military cooperation with Turkey and Azerbaijan.
The foreign ministry argued that the military activities of Georgia could at any time pose a real threat to the regional security architecture.