Bashar al-Assad
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accused Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan of fomenting the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. He stated this in an interview with RIA Novosti.
“He supports terrorists in Libya, he was the main instigator and initiator of the recent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” Assad stressed.
The Syrian President added that Erdogan had indeed transferred the Syrian militants to Nagorno-Karabakh, where they are involved in the military conflict. He stressed that Damascus can confirm this.
On October 1, it was reported that Syrian mercenaries, supported by Turkey, were preparing to be transferred to Nagorno-Karabakh. Volunteers from the pro-Turkish “Syrian National Army” gathered near the border of Turkey and Syria, awaiting transportation to the conflict zone.
The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) escalated sharply on September 27. Azerbaijan reported that Armenian forces fired at its positions and settlements on the contact line and announced a counteroffensive. Armenia, in turn, blamed the Azerbaijani military for the attack on Artsakh. The Armenian side claims that 4,000 militants are fighting on the side of Azerbaijan, which Turkey has transferred from Syria.
In 1991, Nagorno-Karabakh, the majority of whose population were Armenians, declared independence from Azerbaijan. Baku tried to return the region by force, a war broke out. In 1994, Azerbaijan, Armenia and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, with the mediation of Russia, signed a truce protocol. However, hostilities periodically resume.
