On 26 April, the Turkish-Russian Joint Monitoring Centre in the Aghdam region was officially closed with a ceremonial event. The closing ceremony was attended by senior military officials and media representatives of Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkey .

Among those present were Colonel General Karim Valiyev, Chief of the General Staff of the Azerbaijani Army; Colonel General Bakhtiyar Ersay, Advisor to the Minister of Defence; Colonel General Sergey Istrakov, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces; and Colonel General Levent Ergun, Chief of the Ground Forces of the Turkish Ministry of Defence.

During the ceremony, Colonel-General Karim Valiyev highlighted the achievements of the Joint Monitoring Centre since its establishment under a memorandum signed between Turkey and Russia on 11 November 2020. He thanked the Turkish and Russian military personnel for their dedicated service, which has “contributed to peace and stability in the region” since the Centre became operational on 30 January 2021, and wished them all the best in their future endeavours.

It was also announced that following the joint statement of the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia on 10 November 2020, the Russian peacekeepers temporarily stationed in Karabakh have been withdrawn from the territory “ahead of schedule and completely.” 

The Turkish-Russian Joint Monitoring Centre was established in the city of Agdam on 30 January 2021. According to the memorandum between Turkey and Russia, the Centre was tasked with monitoring the ceasefire in the Karabakh region and preventing violations of the law. It housed a staff of 120, evenly divided between 60 soldiers from each country.