SOHR: Turkey sent a new batch of mercenaries to Azerbaijan

“The Turkish government and its intelligence service continue recruiting Syrian mercenaries to throw them into the military operations in “Nagorno-Karabakh” region alongside Azerbaijani forces in their conflict with the Armenians,” SOHR said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the Turkish government has transported a new batch of mercenaries from Syria to Azerbaijan. The recent batch has comprised over 400 fighters of “Sultan Murad”, “Al-Hamzat Division” and other factions, who were supposed to be sent earlier to Azerbaijan. However, Turkey’s transfer of Syrian mercenaries to Nagorno-Karabakh has been suspended for a while due to the ceasefire agreement. Accordingly, the total number of Syrian fighters sent to Azerbaijan has risen to at least 2,050, SOHR said.

According to SOHR source, the battles in Nagorno-Karabakh are raging, with the Syrian mercenaries heading the military operations on the frontlines, which places extreme pressure and stress on them. In this context, reliable sources have informed SOHR that several fighters have forwent payments and returned to Syria, fleeing from the ongoing fierce clashes.

SOHR activists have documented further fatalities among Syrian mercenaries involved in the “Nagorno-Karabakh” conflict. The death toll among the Turkish-backed factions has risen, since the Turkish government sent them to the frontlines, to at least 143 dead, including 92 fighters whose bodies were brought to Syria while the rest of bodies remained in Azerbaijan.

Reliable SOHR sources had confirmed that the Turkish government and its intelligence service continued recruiting Syrian mercenaries to throw them into the military operations in “Nagorno-Karabakh” region alongside Azerbaijani forces in their conflict with the Armenians. “The recruitment operations are being conducted in complete secrecy to avoid any potential reactions by the international community regarding the ‘recruitment of mercenaries’ law” said the sources.