During the whole period of the Artsakh war, Azerbaijan was trying to involve Turkey in the negotiation process, even trying to make Turkey the OSCE Minsk Group’s co-chair, however this wish failed. The achievement of Ankara can be the establishment of a Russian-Turkish monitoring center, about which there was no clear wording in the November 9 agreement. It was only mentioned, that a “ceasefire control center should be set up” without mentioning the name of any country.

On November 10, it became known that Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu signed a memorandum, on the creation of a Russian-Turkish joint center to control the ceasefire on the border. This is the second time in Russian-Turkish relations after Syria that the military forces of the two countries carry out a joint operation. In 2019, Russia and Turkey hold a joint patrol on the Turkish-Syrian border, however Russian President V. Putin stressed that the joint center which is to be established in Karabakh will not require the same forms of monitoring  which Russia and Turkey used in Syria. He also noted that it would operate exclusively remotely using unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor the situation along the contact line and giving information about it, which will then be analyzed and conclusions will be made.  

On November 17, the Turkish Parliament approved the plan on sending Turkish soldiers to Azerbaijan, stating that the monitoring center will be based on the relevant UN and OSCE resolutions. According to the document, sending Turkish troops to Azerbaijan is in Turkey’s national interest. Moreover, the terms of deployment of Turkish troops and the number is reserved for the administration of the President of Turkey.

The Presidents of Russia and Turkey had a telephone conversation about the monitoring center. According to the official statement issued by Turkey, Erdogan noted that Ankara is waiting for the soon-to-be-established Russian-Turkish joint center. The sides negotiated over the terms of establishment of the center for about 3 weeks, during which a lot of contradictory information appeared in the press. The topic to be mostly discussed was the location of the center. Information was spread that Turkish peacekeepers would appear in Nagorno-Karabakh, however, the Russian Foreign Ministry denied it by stressing that the center will be located in Azerbaijan. There are also rumors that Turkey wants to establish an independent monitoring center, however Russia believes that there is no need for Turkey to establish an independent monitoring point in the region.

Already on December 1, the Turkish Defense Ministry reported that the discussions of technical details concerning the center was completed and its construction would soon start in Azerbaijan. Hulusi Akar emphasized that the construction of the center is underway and in the near future, the military will start fulfilling its duties. According to him, Turkish and Russian officers, as well as generals will serve there: there will be equal numbers of military, but the location and number aren’t stated in the statement. 

BBC prepared an article about the location of the joint monitoring center, with its Azerbaijani sources noting, that there were two options according to preliminary data, Ganja and Barda, but the Turks categorically rejected the option of Ganja. Turkish source noted that it would be located 15 km. away from Nagorno-Karabakh, which coincides with Barda. There were also rumors about its being located in Mataghis, but the Russian side was fundamentally against the establishment of a joint center in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is expected, that between December 9-10, Turkish President R. Erdogan will visit Baku, and according to some data, it will coincide with the launch of the joint monitoring center.

Following the publication of the article, some Azeri sources, referring to the article of “Vestnik Kavkaza”, wrote that the center would be located in Aghdam. However, there is no official information about it. Most likely it is false, as it was mentioned previously that the center won’t be in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Some expert circle finds that the creation of such a center was logical, as Turkish factor was essential during the war, thus it will not be possible to solve the problem without cooperating with Turkey. According to other experts, Russia relinquished its position in the South Caucasus, allowing Turkey to rearrange itself there.