06.10.2020, Moscow.
Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (FRS) of Russia Sergey Naryshkin stated on October 6 that thousands of militants from the Middle East terrorist organizations are moving to the zone of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as official website of the department informs.
Naryshkin noted that “according to FRS information, mercenaries from international terrorist organizations fighting in the Middle East, in particular, Jabhat al-Nusra [organization banned in Russia – Rossa Primavera News Agency], ‘Firkat Hamza’, ‘Sultan Murad’, as well as extremist Kurdish groups, are being actively redeployed into the conflict zone. And we are talking about hundreds and even thousands of radicals, who expect to earn money from the new Karabakh war,” noted the head of foreign intelligence.
Naryshkin emphasized that “a new war in the region is inadmissible for Russia as a co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group.” “We are also far from indifferent to the fact that representatives of friendly Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples die during hostilities,” he noted.
The Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service considers inadmissable that Transcaucasia can become a new springboard for international terrorist organizations. It can promote penetration of militants into the states bordering with Armenia and Azerbaijan, including Russia, Naryshkin emphasized.
The FRS Director noted that there is still an opportunity for the opposing sides to come to reconciliation and sit down at the negotiating table with the assistance of the international community.
Combat in Nagorno-Karabakh erupted on September 27. Armenian Defense Ministry announced about rocket hitting and artillery shelling of Karabakh settlements from Azerbaijani territory. A few hours after reports of first shelling, Azerbaijan announced the launching of “counterattack” operation along the whole contact line [its length is more than 200 km – Rossa Primavera News Agency].
Armenia stated that such a major operation could not have been planned in several hours and was prepared in advance.
Immediately after the beginning of the hostilities, Turkey declared its full (including military) support to Azerbaijan. On September 28, General Ziyad Haji Ubaid of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) said that the militants associated with the SNA had gone to war in Azerbaijan.
“We are ready to fight anywhere in line with the national interests and security of Turkey,” he said. “We defend our interests in order to realize our goals.”
On 5 October, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame for the conflict on OSCE Minsk group which has been engaged in peaceful settlement of the conflict for almost 30 years.
Leaders of some states, such as French President Emmanuel Macron and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, reported that Turkey is redeploying militants from the Middle East to take part in hostilities on the side of Azerbaijan. The Russian Foreign Ministry called on all interested states to prevent the militants from taking part in the armed conflict and withdraw the existing radicals from the region.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
