Syrian mercenary in Azerbaijan: We transported by Turkish planes, my group consists of 1000 people

One of the Syrian mercenaries sent by Turkey to Azerbaijan revealed during an interview with a British newspaper that security companies transported them by Turkish military aircrafts there, as Ankara offered them to work in guarding oil centers and facilities in Azerbaijan, but they have become on the front lines.

3 October, 2020 09:35

NEWS DESK

The British newspaper "The Guardian" interviewed a Syrian mercenary on the line of fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan in light of the war that is currently taking place in Karabakh region.

The newspaper says that after six days of clashes in Karabakh, the fighting there took a regional dimension, as the clashes renewed concerns about stability in the South Caucasus region, a corridor for pipelines that transport oil and gas to global markets.

The newspaper quoted many mercenaries in Idlib, saying that military leaders and mediators who claimed that they represent Turkish security companies offered to work in guarding control centers, oil and gas facilities in Azerbaijan within contracts that may extend from three to six months.

The Turks offered the mercenaries 10,000 Turkish liras (about $ 1,200) per month, which is a huge sum for Syrians trapped for a decade in war and poverty.

On the line of fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the British newspaper spoke to the mercenary Mostafa Khaled who requested that his real name not be used and said that he registered his name "to work in Azerbaijan" on September 18, and is now stationed in a point that has been being subjected to continuous artillery shelling since last Sunday.

The mercenary (23 years) said that he traveled from the city of Idlib within a group of 1,000 Syrians from the mercenaries of "al-Sultan Morad, Suleiman Shah and al-Hamzah" of Turkey, who left Kilis border crossing with Turkey to a military base in the city of Gaziantep on September 23.

The next day, the group headed to Istanbul and from there to Azerbaijan via Turkish military cargo aircrafts.

The data of the "Flight Radar" site which tracks the aircrafts' movements, as well as images and geolocation coordinates sent to the Guardian confirm the validity of the data.

According to the newspaper, the deployment of a thousand Syrian mercenaries working for a private Turkish security company, in addition to Ankara's explicit support for Azerbaijan in the worst fighting between the two neighbors since 1994 threatens to disturb the fragile status quo in the Caucasus.

D.H