December 29, 2020
Syrian jihadists fighting for Azerbaijan
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that Moscow and Ankara had agreed that the situation in Nagorno Karabakh should not be used for the infiltration of foreign mercenaries the region.
“Our joint opinion is that the situation in Nagorno Karabakh should not be used for the infiltration of foreign mercenaries to that region. We have completely the same position here with our Turkish partners,” said Lavrov after talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
This statement comes on the heels of Ankara deploying to troops to Azerbaijan on Tuesday for the join Russian-Turkish Karabakh ceasefire monitoring base, which is to become operational in January. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has indicated that the base will be located in Aghdam.
On Monday, however, Russia voiced serious concerns over the deployment of foreign mercenaries in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone during the months of October and November, a statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry said on the occasion of Lavrov’s participation in the 8th session of Russian-Turkish strategic planning.
”The emphasis will be placed on reducing the risk of potential clashes and providing humanitarian assistance to the parties. The Russian side expresses serious concerns over the deployment of foreign mercenaries to Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone during the months of October-November,’’ said the statement.
”We consider this center as an auxiliary element of the post-conflict settlement, in addition to the Russian peacekeeping mission and other measures. The tasks of the center, as it is known, include monitoring the situation by visual observation methods, in particular, collecting, summarizing and checking data on violations with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles,’’ added the statement.
