This morning, Artsakh Presidential Spokesman Vahram Poghosyan announced that Armenian military forces had hit Azerbaijan’s Ganja International Airport, an installation that had been used by the Azerbaijani military since September 27, the first day of the war unleashed by the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem.

On September 29, Turkish F-16 fighter jets took to the skies from Ganja to safeguard Azerbaijani Su-25 jets and Turkish-made Bayraktar drone strikes targeting the town of Vardenis, the villages of Metz Masrik and Sotk, all in Armenia, and the land units of the Armenian Armed Forces located in their vicinity.

On September 29, a Turkish F-16 shot down a Su-25 of the Armenian Air Force, which was in the airspace of the Republic of Armenia and was providing fire support to the Armenian air defense.

Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said that Turkish fighter jets had been at Ganja airport for a long time and had operated from there during the hostilities. These fighters were brought to Azerbaijan under the pretext of participating in Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises, but remained in Azerbaijan after their completion this summer.

Later, the Armenian side presented evidence of Turkish F-16 fighter pilots and controllers talking about hostilities and landing at Ganja airport, which is further evidence that Turkish military equipment is based in Ganja.

According to flightware.com, a flight tracking website, Azerbaijan Airlines passenger planes from Ankara have landed in Ganja in recent days. On September 22, 23, 24 and 25, Azerbaijan Airlines Airbus A340-500s arrived in Ganja from Ankara, which then flew to Baku.

Ganja is the third largest international airport in Azerbaijan after the Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku and the Nakhichevan International Airport. This airport was used by Azerbaijani, Turkish and Russian airlines.

Ganja Airport has two runways, covered with concrete (length 2500 m) and asphalt concrete (3300 m), but, in fact, only the second one was used.

In 2019, the passenger volume at Baku Airport was 4.73 million, Nakhichevan – 646,000, and Ganja – 154,000.

Ganja (historic Gandzak), with a population of 335,000, is the second largest city in Azerbaijan after Baku.