Turkey recruits Syrian rebels to fight in Nagorno-Karabakh

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Turkey has recruited Syrian rebels to fight in Nagorno-Karabakh, where clashes are raging between forces in the Armenian-backed breakaway region and the Azerbaijani army, activists from northwestern Syria told the dpa economic misery. Ankara has been supporting some rebel groups in Syria for nine years.

An activist said, Young fighters, mainly from Turkish-backed groups, such as the Sultan Murad Brigade, the Hamza Brigade and the Al Furat Shield go in exchange for money. These are mainly desperate fighters, who are recruited by Turkey for $ 1,500 to $ 2,000 a month. The main problem is that Syrian fighters are not trained to fight in such areas. About 2,000 fighters had left Syria to go to Azerbaijan via Turkey's Gaziantep airport.

A source from the Sultan Murad Brigade said 50 fighters of the group had been killed in the past three days in Nagorno-Karabakh, while dozens more had been wounded.

Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said most of those involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were experienced fighters who have fought in the past in the mountainous areas of Latakia in Syria. Many fighters are leaving Idlib, in northwestern Syria, and others from Aleppo in the north. The fighters come from two Turkmen armed groups, the Sultan Murad Brigade and the Suleiman Shah Brigade.

However, a spokesman for the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, Youssef Hamoud, denied the allegations, saying reports of Syrian rebels in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were unfounded and false.

A senior Turkish official, for his part, stressed, we categorically reject these allegations. Instead of making baseless allegations, Armenia should comply with international law and UN Security Council resolutions.