TEHRAN (Iran News) – Syrian President Bashar Assad slammed his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for instigating the ongoing war between Armenian and Azeri forces by sending Takfiri militants to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
In an interview with Russia’s Sputnik news agency, Assad also said militants from Syria were being deployed to the conflict area, the Middle East Monitor reported.
“He (Erdogan) … was the main instigator and the initiator of the recent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” Assad said. “Damascus can confirm this.”
“They used the same method in Libya; they used Syrian terrorists in Libya, maybe with other nationalities. So, it’s self-evident and very probable that they are using that method in Nagorno-Karabakh because as I said earlier, they are the ones who started this problem, this conflict; they encouraged this conflict. They want to achieve something and they’re going to use the same method,” the Syrian president added.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on October 3 that at least 64 Turkish-backed Syrian militants had been killed in clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The Britain-based war monitor said they were among the 1,200 combatants from pro-Ankara Takfiri groups that Turkey has sent to fight on the Azerbaijani side.
At least 36 of them have been killed in clashes in the past 48 hours alone, the Observatory added, increasing a previous toll of 28 to 64.
Late last month, British daily newspaper The Guardian, citing three men living in the last militant-controlled corner of northern Syria, reported that Takfiris had signed up to work for a private Turkish security company as border guards in Azerbaijan.
They added that the militants expected to travel over the border to Turkey before being flown to Azerbaijan.
Reuters news agency, citing the account of two unnamed Syrian militants, also reported on September 28 that they were deploying to Azerbaijan to fight in the ongoing clashes with Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia’s Ambassador to Moscow Vardan Toghanyan likewise said last month that Turkey had sent around 4,000 Syrian militants who were active on the Azerbaijani side in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan has strongly denied claims that any Syrian militants were among its ranks.
- source : Tasnim, Iran News
