On 2 September the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry (MOD) responded to an article in the Russian newspaper “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” by stating that there is no foreign military base in the country. 

“The professionalism and combat experience of the personnel of the Azerbaijani Army, the military equipment and weapons in the armament are enough to fulfil any combat mission in a short period of time to liberate our Armenian-occupied lands and restore our country’s territorial integrity,” the statement further emphasized. The Azerbaijani MOD emphasized that the article was commissioned and that the writings in it were deliberate and defamatory. It also said that the author of the article Vladimir Mukhin has failed to cite any reliable source or provide any solid fact. 

Furthermore, the ministry pointed out that Yerevan seeks to create favourable conditions for escalating the conflict and that it wants to involve more parties to the conflict. The ministry also stated that “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” must instead focus on the creation of nationwide militia in Armenia (Caucasus Watch reported). It noted that after the law comes into force, Armenia will legalize the recruitment of its army with mercenaries and terrorists from the hotspots of the Middle East, especially Syria and Lebanon, under the guise of volunteering.

In his article published on 1 September Mukhin wrote that about 500 Syrian militants were deployed to Azerbaijan, mostly Turkomans from the Sultan Murad armed formations, the Free Syrian Army and Khamzat. These groups supposedly went in order to prepare for a Blitzkrieg scenario against Armenia. He wrote that a protest action was held in Baku, where the participants called on Turkey "to save Azerbaijan from Armenians and Russians." The protesters allegedly demanded that the Azerbaijani authorities place a Turkish military base and take revenge for the July battles on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

He further quoted the Orientalist Igor Dimitriev and his claims that Turkey had already created a military base in Azerbaijan and that after the exercises in August (Caucasus Watch reported) Turkey left a part of its military in Azerbaijan, including F-16 aircraft with personnel in addition to the Turkish UAVs division. Amongst his other sources were the statement of the Turkish political analyst Engin Ozer, who said that the Turkish military is already present in Azerbaijan’s autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan. He also cited an article in the Turkish newspaper “Daily Sabah” which asserted that during the Azerbaijani-Turkish military exercises, in which Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev took part, “the issues of creating a Turkish military base in Nakhichevan and the creation of another military base on the Absheron Peninsula were discussed.” 

The Armenian Foreign Ministry also reacted to this publication, saying that it will investigate that such information is true.