Azerbaijan submits report on foreign fighters used by Armenia to UN

Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan in the UN prepared and sent a report covering the comprehensive report on foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) used by Armenia against Azerbaijan to the United Nations addressed to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to UN in Azerbaijan.

The report said that over the years, Armenia has systematically and deliberately pursued the goal of cementing the occupation and securing the annexation of the seized Azerbaijani territories. The report covers such aspects as recruitment, names, organizations, countries of origin, travel arrangement, training and deployment, payment, and benefits of the FTFs.

"Being against the political settlement, which rejects the status-quo based on the unlawful use of force, Armenia has undertaken a chain of provocative actions to undermine the peace process. The illegal transfer of settlers and foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) from Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria into the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is among such actions," the report said.

The report noted that the Government of Armenia has provided accommodation, training, and logistical maintenance of FTFs in the occupied territories to prepare them for terrorist and combat operations against Azerbaijan.

"Training camps had been established by Armenia under the instruction of PKK and ASALA terrorist organizations. The transfer of FTFs intensified immediately after Armenia had perpetrated another act of aggression on 27 September 2020," the report said.

The report also said that Azerbaijan has repeatedly brought to the attention of the world community the threats and challenges emanating from Armenia’s unlawful actions.

"In its communications, Azerbaijan has called on all States to condemn Armenia for its illegal settlement policy in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, strengthen border control measures for preventing the transfer of FTFs into the territories of Azerbaijan, suppress the financing of terrorism carried out under the cover of charity activities by Armenian diaspora organizations and prevent the abuse of civil aviation for transporting FTFs and armament to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan," the report said.

"In an attempt to divert the attention of the international community from its own crimes and justify heavy losses inflicted on its armed forces on the battlefield, Armenia brazenly accused Azerbaijan of the use of FTFs and waged a scaled campaign of disseminating fake news to that end. However, professional analysis of various video and photo materials shared to substantiate Armenia’s claims clearly testifies to their fabricated content and nature. Thus, as one author has noted, “[i]t is surprising that such obvious falsifications somehow get on to the pages of leading foreign publications. Yerevan has so far been unable to provide any evidence of the presence of so-called mercenaries in Karabakh fighting for Azerbaijan”," the report said.