Turkey has allegedly recruited Syrian mercenaries to fight in Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory has shown no signs of slowing down, and Turkey's involvement on behalf of Azerbaijan also appears to be growing, which has been a concern among the international community since fighting broke out this weekend.
Armenia has accused Turkey of shooting down one of its jets, which Turkey denied, and there are multiple reports, including from BBC and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, that Ankara has been recruiting hundreds of mercenaries from Syria to aid Azerbaijan in the conflict (SOHR also reports Armenian-born Syrians have also been transported to Armenia to join the fight, per BBC).
BBC Arabic spoke to one man who alleged he was recruited by the commander of the Hamza Division of the Turkish-backed Syrian "National Army" for a $2,000 per month. The details obtained by BBC appear to match those provided by other sources; there have also been reports of dozens of casualties, with sources in Syria telling BBC that families are receiving death notices from Azerbaijan.
Details in the report match info from my sources: fighters were given new uniform, forced to hand over their phones, and were promised they won't be engaged in fighting.
BBC reports at least 10 Syrians were killed & dozens injured, but not provided proper medical care.— Elizabeth Tsurkov (@Elizrael) September 30, 2020
One of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's advisers, Ilnur Cervik, has dismissed the allegations, which he claims are part of a "disinformation campaign." Read more at BBC.
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