Forcing conflict
Sources of "Kommersant" told how Turkey was preparing the ground for aggravation in Nagorno-Karabakh

Military-diplomatic sources of Kommersant assert that the current serious aggravation of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh was deliberately planned and provoked by Turkey. According to them, over the past months, Ankara has actively provoked Baku to unleash hostilities under the promise of comprehensive political, diplomatic, intelligence and military-technical support. Earlier, the US and French authorities spoke about Turkey's direct intervention in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The picture painted by the military-diplomatic sources of Kommersant is as follows. After the completion of the next Turkish-Azerbaijani exercises in July-August, a significant group of the Turkish Armed Forces allegedly remained on the territory of Azerbaijan, which was called upon to play a coordinating and directing role in planning and conducting an offensive operation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

We are talking about 600 military personnel, including a battalion tactical group of 200 people, 50 instructors in Nakhichevan, 90 military advisers in Baku (they provided a liaison in the conduct of hostilities in the brigade-corps-general staff chain); 120 flight personnel at the Gabala airbase; 20 drone operators at the Dallar airfield, 50 instructors at the Yevlakh airfield, 50 instructors in the 4th Army Corps (Pirekeshkul) and 20 people at the naval base and at the Heydar Aliyev military school in Baku. This group allegedly included 18 infantry fighting vehicles, one multiple launch rocket system, ten vehicles and up to 34 aircraft (including 6 aircraft, 8 helicopters, up to 20 drones), which provided military intelligence both in the Karabakh region and in Armenia. ...

In September-October, judging by the data provided by Kommersant, the number of flights of Turkey's military transport aviation to Azerbaijan (mainly in transit through Georgia) increased sharply. In particular, the delivery of people and ammunition was allegedly carried out on September 4 by a C-130 aircraft of the Turkish Air Force, on September 18 by a CN-235 aircraft, on September 25 by an A400M aircraft.
In the midst of hostilities on September 28-30, in addition to the previously arrived military advisers, the commander of the ground forces Umit Dundar and the Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar arrived in Azerbaijan. Kommersant's sources claim that they were in charge of the overall management of the operation on the Karabakh front on the spot.
On September 30, October 1 and 3, the delivery of medicines and small arms, according to them, was carried out by CN-235 planes along the route Etimesgut (Ankara) -Nasosnaya (Haji-Zeynalabdin).
The delivery of personnel and ammunition was allegedly also carried out on October 7 by a C-130 Turkish Air Force (flight TUAF737).
On October 9, as Kommersant's interlocutors say, an Azerbaijani military transport aircraft Il-76TD (flight AZAF002) on the Amman-Baku route transited through Georgia DShK machine guns (200 units) with ammunition.
Earlier, Turkey also sent requests for transit flights through the Georgian airspace on October 14, 21 and 28. Kommersant's sources say that the permits have been obtained.
In addition, Kommersant's interlocutors report that Turkish representatives are recruiting mercenaries to take part in the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh on the side of Azerbaijan from Islamist groups loyal to Ankara fighting in Syria and Libya. Control over the functioning of the supply chain of mercenaries is allegedly carried out by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization with the support of the forces and means of the Ministry of Defense.

How they live and fight in Nagorno-Karabakh on different sides of the demarcation line
According to Kommersant's interlocutors, during the first week of October, up to 1.3 thousand Syrian militants and at least one group of Libyan mercenaries, numbering 150 people, were deployed to the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The former were allegedly located mainly in the Terter direction in the Bayandur and Gapanli regions (5 and 10 km southeast of Terter, respectively), and the latter were located in the Jebrail direction in the Karvenda region (250 km west of Baku).

It is reported that the recruitment of Syrian militants is being conducted in Ankara-controlled territories in the north and northwest of Syria by employees of the private military company SADAT with the assistance of field commanders of the Syrian National Army (SNA). The main recruiting points allegedly operate in the cities of Afrin, Al-Bab, Ras al-Ain and Tel Abyad. The gathering of recruits is organized in Afrin, from where, with the help of Turkish transport companies, they are transported to the city of Sanliurfa (Turkey), 40 km from the border with Syria. Further, the mercenaries are airlifted by SADAT chartered charter flights to the conflict zone.

According to Kommersant's sources, recruiters offered a "lifting allowance" in the amount of $ 1,500 and a monthly fee of up to $ 2,000 to those wishing to go to war in the Transcaucasus.
Before being sent to Azerbaijan, they allegedly confiscated identity documents and personal communications from the mercenaries. They were told that their services would be required for a period ranging from three months to six months.

“On September 22, the first group from the 2nd corps of the SNA was sent to Azerbaijan, which underwent a two-week special training under the supervision of Turkish instructors in Syria,” one of Kommersant's interlocutors said.

According to him, until the announcement of a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, another detachment of Syrian mercenaries, numbering up to 1,500 people, continued to actively form to be sent to Azerbaijan. “This detachment has been formed and can be transferred to the Nagorno-Karabakh region at any time,” the source claims. We are talking about people from the "Failak ash-Sham", "Sultan Murad Brigade", "Firkat Hamza" and "Firkat Suleiman Shah" groups.

Earlier, the British radio station BBC reported that Turkey has transferred 150 militants from the Jaysh al-Sham group from Afrin to Azerbaijan. About 2,000 more people from the Sultan Murad Brigade were preparing for transfer to Karabakh as of early October. The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal also reported this. At the same time, Washington Post journalists, citing the relatives of the Syrian mercenaries, reported that more than 50 of them died during the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Armenian authorities have repeatedly said that Turkey is sending mercenaries from Syria and Libya to Nagorno-Karabakh.

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo also spoke about Turkey's active role in the conflict on Thursday. “Now the Turks have intervened and provided resources to Azerbaijan, thereby increasing the risk, adding fuel to the fire of what is happening in the historical battle in a place called Nagorno-Karabakh - a small territory with a population of about 150 thousand people,” he said in an interview. radio stations WSB.

On the eve of the negative influence of Turkey, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. “Foreign interference, in particular Turkey’s intervention, is fueling this escalation and is unacceptable,” he said. Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron also said that the Turkish authorities are helping to transfer militants from Syria to Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, however, categorically denies that foreign mercenaries are fighting on the Azerbaijani side. “Nobody has provided us with any evidence of the presence of foreign armed formations on the territory of Azerbaijan, which are taking part in the current clashes. Our official position is that we do not have any foreign mercenaries, ”Ilham Aliyev said during a parallel interview with RIA Novosti leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The statements of the US and French authorities in Azerbaijan were described as unacceptable for countries that seek to act as mediators in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Turkish authorities have also repeatedly called the information that they are helping to send mercenaries from Syria and Libya to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Elena Chernenko