O n September 30, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a statement, noting that militants from Syria and Libya were being transferred to the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Stakeholders were called upon to take immediate action to expel foreign terrorist mercenaries. In addition, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Russia has information about the transfer of mercenaries to the conflict zone of Artsakh [1].

On October 1, ahead of the EU summit in Brussels, President of France E. Macron stated that according to French intelligence, there are militants of jihadist groups from Syria, who have infiltrated the region through the territory of Turkey [2]. Moreover, they are moved to Azerbaijan through the city of Gaziantep (Ayntap) in the south of Turkey [3]. Macron also confirmed that all the mercenaries have ties with the terrorist organizations of “Islamic state” and during the discussion with Putin the latter also confirmed that they were also aware of that information [4]. It should be noted that since early September, the Russian press reported that Turkey sent 500 Syrian militants to Azerbaijan from the “Sultan Murad”, “Free Syrian Army” and “Khamzat” armed groups [5].

At the same time, various international sources report data on terrorists fighting on the Azerbaijani side. Thus, “Eurasia Daily” website referring to “Jesr” newspaper, reports that the number of killed Syrian mercenaries fighting on the Azerbaijani side in the zone of Artsakh conflict reached 40. Moreover, on September 30, 10 mercenaries from Syria were killed, noting that majority of them were Syrian Turkmen [6].

According to CNN, Syrian mercenaries are going to be deployed in the zone of Artsakh conflict with the support of Turkey. In particular, the militants of the pro-Turkish “Syrian National Army” are next to the border of Turkey and Syria and are ready to move to the conflict zone.  CNN found out, that the contracts with the mercenaries were signed for a tree-months-term and they would receive $1500 a month [7].

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) located in Great Britain released information on September 30 that Turkish private military companies backed by Ankara were recruiting mercenaries in Syria and transferring them to the conflict zone for taking part in hostilities by Azerbaijan. It’s about transporting at least 850 terrorist to Azerbaijan. Meanwhile it was mentioned earlier that their number was 320, however, over 520 people are transported daily [8].

On October 1, SOHR presented new data, telling that the number of victims among Syrian mercenaries fighting for Azerbaijan is increasing. In the past 48 hours, 28 mercenaries were killed in Nagorno-Karabakh, 62 others were injured and went missing. On the other hand, the center notes, that Turkish security companies are going to transport hundreds of Syrians to Azerbaijan [9].

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[1] Захарова рассказала о переброске иностранных боевиков в Карабах

[2] Макрон заявил о присутствии боевиков джихадистских группировок в Карабахе

[3] Haut-Karabakh : le groupe de Minsk appelle à une cessation immédiate des hostilities

[4] https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-54381268

[5] Сирийские боевики в Азербайджане готовятся к блицкригу в Армении

[6] В одном бою в Нагорном Карабахе погибли сразу 30 сирийских боевиков

[7] Rebels from Syria recruited to fight in conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, source says

[8] Turkish security companies transfer Syrian mercenaries to Azerbaijan, total number of fighters now in Azerbaijan increases to 850, and death toll jumps to three

[9] Nagorno-Karabakh battles | Nearly 30 Turkish-backed Syrian mercenaries killed in 48 hours, over 60 others missing