Turkey brought 4,000 fighters from Syria to Nagorno-Karabakh – Armenian official
ISTANBUL, Turkey (North Press) – Armenian ambassador to Moscow Vardan Toganyan said on Monday that Turkey brought about 4,000 fighters from training camps in Syria to the battlefield in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh.
On Sunday, via its official Twitter account, the Armenian government announced the injury of 81 fighters who had been sent to Azerbaijan, the Istanbul-based Independent Arabia reported.
“The Armenian government said that intelligence noted the existence of about 4,000 fighters from Syrian militias who were engaged in the clashes,” Independent Arabia said.
The Armenian Ministry of Defense announced that it is investigating the engagement of fighters from Syria in the battles with Azerbaijan.
This came at a time where the Azerbaijani authorities denied the reports about moving Syrian fighters as mercenaries from Syria to Azerbaijan via Turkey, describing the matter as “nonsense.”
Ismail Ayoub, a military and strategic analyst, expressed his disapproval of engaging Syrian fighters in the fight on behalf of Turkey as mercenaries.
Ayoub referred to the killing of some Syrians during the past two days in Azerbaijan.
On September 22, seven buses in addition to several vehicles belonging to the Turkish-backed Sultan Murad group set off from the village of Kafr Ghan in the northern countryside of the region of Soran to the Howar Killis crossing, east of the city of Azaz, northern Aleppo.
About 200 members of the group were moved from the village to the crossing to enter Turkey and then to travel to Azerbaijan, according to local sources.
A few days later, a truck containing about 20 coffins of members of the group entered the same crossing, coming from the battlefield between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but this was denied by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), local sources stated.
“The existence of Syrians in the ongoing conflict in Azerbaijan is unjustified; when we solve our matters and become a state, we can then go helping other countries,” Ayoub told North Press.
In an exclusive interview with North Press, Ayoub stressed the necessity of not going to fight anywhere, whatever the reasons are.
“Unfortunately, the Turkish government is encouraging this through some temptations,” Ayoub added.
Large numbers of SNA groups registered their names to go to Azerbaijan in exchange for a monthly salary of up to $1,800, sources previously reported to North Press.
On Sunday morning, clashes erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia after the Armenian forces fired on Azerbaijani civilian housing, according to Turkish media, though it is still unclear how the clashes began.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense said in a statement, “The Armenian army began a large-scale provocation in the early hours of the morning by firing with light and heavy weapons against Azeri military and civilian sites,” according to the same sources.
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that time has come to end the crisis in the disputed Armenian-majority region between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Erdogan condemned Armenia for “attacking Azerbaijani lands,” and said that Turkey “will continue to stand by the friendly and brotherly Azerbaijan with all its capabilities.”
“The region will restore peace and tranquility as soon as Armenia withdraws from the occupied Azerbaijani lands,” Erdogan added.
After announcing that shells had fallen on its territory, Iran warned Azerbaijan and Armenia against any firing near its territory.
In a statement on Monday, Iranian Deputy Police Chief Qasim Rezaei said that Tehran had informed both Armenia and Azerbaijan of the danger of shelling Iranian territories as a result of the military battles in Nagorno-Karabakh.
For his part, US President Donald Trump said that his administration is closely following the developments of the events and clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“We will seek to stop the fighting between the two countries, we have a lot of good relations with that region, we will see if we can stop the clashes,” Trump said at a White House press conference on Sunday.