Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad accused the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of
instigating the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the Caucasus. Interviewed by the Russia's
RIA news agency, Bashar al-Assad said that Erdogan and his Defense Minister
Hulusi Akar are deploying Syrian militants in Azerbaijan, confirming the
accusations recently moved to Ankara by French president Emmanuel Macron.
"We are
always with our brother Azerbaijan since he is always on the side of Turkey ...
we will continue to be with Baku on the battlefield and at the negotiating
table," Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu assured yesterday. Faced
with these sentences it is difficult to imagine how Ankara can make a
diplomatic contribution to the solution of the conflict between Armenia and
Azerbaijan. On the contrary, on the battlefield, his "contribution"
is evident.
And not
just for the huge arms supplies to the Azeris. According to the Middle East Eye
(MEE), hundreds of Syrian mercenaries under the orders of Turkey have left to
go to Azerbaijan or are about to leave. They have the task of protecting
Turkish interests in the open war between Armenia and Azerbaijan for Nagorno-Karabakh.
Citing a
source in Turkey with direct knowledge of the matter who asked for anonymity, MEE
reports that since last month Turkish private contractors have been hiring
Syrians to send to Baku. They collected civilians and former combatants to
train them as security guards with a monthly salary of $ 600. The first group
has completed training and has already been sent to Azerbaijan.
Others refer
of salaries between 1000 and 2000 dollars and of concrete employment in the
fighting and not just as private guards. In essence, Ankara is following the
same path taken in Libya where it has sent thousands of Syrian jihadists and
Islamists, coming from the western region of Idlib, under Turkish military
control, to fight together with the militias aligned with Prime Minister Al
Sarraj, ally of the Turkish leader Erdogan, against Khalifa Haftar's Libyan
National Army.
Those
headed for Azerbaijan would also come from Idlib. They pass through the Kilis
border crossing and once they enter Turkish territory, they sign contracts with
private security companies. They are men of the so-called Syrian National Army,
the militia financed and trained by Ankara, belonging to various divisions and
brigades. Those of Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih and Mutasim would already be in
Azerbaijan. Through contractors, the Turkish government can circumvent the
parliamentary approval required for the use of regular troops in war. Baku for
its part denies everything and calls this news "another Armenian
provocation and total nonsense."
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