Azerbaijani embassy in UK denies involvement of Syrian mercenaries in Karabakh conflict

The embassy of Azerbaijan in London denied involving Syrian mercenaries in the conflict with Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to the embassy's statement addressed to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

In a statement sent to SOHR, the embassy of Azerbaijan said, "Azerbaijan armed forces feature among the world’s 50 strongest armed forces and as manifested in the gains on the ground, are perfectly capable to engage in military operations to liberate its own occupied territories."

"These military operations take place within Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territories and it is our armed forces, not the alleged foreign fighters, which will put an end to the long-standing Armenian military occupation,"  the embassy said, noting that those alleged foreign fighters would not be familiar with the terrain and possess no knowledge of the language.

Also, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of using foreign elements in the conflict, saying that "unlike Azerbaijan, Armenia is the country which has dragged in foreign element to the conflict by illegally settling ethnic Armenians from the conflict zones in the Middle East."

"It goes without saying that the process of illegal settlement aiming to change demographics of the occupied territories blatantly violates the relevant international conventions, in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention. These illegal settlements have been very well documented by international organizations such as the UN High Commission for Refugees," the statement posted on SOHR website reads.