France fears that Turkey is sending mercenaries to Caucasus
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed
concern about Turkey allegedly sending Syrian mercenaries to support Azerbaijan
in its re-ignited conflict with Armenia over the mountain region of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Macron’s office said in a statement Thursday that he
and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the issue in a phone call
Wednesday night, and both “share concern about the sending of Syrian
mercenaries by Turkey to Nagorno-Karabakh.” Macron’s office did not provide
further information about the mercenaries.
Turkey has publicly supported Azerbaijan in the
conflict and said it would provide assistance if requested, but denied sending
foreign mercenaries or arms to the region.
The renewed fighting in the Caucasus Mountains, at the
crossroads between Russia, Turkey and Iran, has killed dozens of people since
Sunday and raised concerns of a broader conflict. Heavy fighting between
Armenian and Azerbaijani forces continued for a fourth straight day on
Wednesday in a flare-up of a decades-old conflict.
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday expressed
concerns over reports about “militants from illegal armed groups, in particular
from Syria, Libya” being sent to the conflict zone in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The ministry didn’t clarify which country may have
sent the fighters or which country the fighters may have arrived in, but in a
statement urged “leadership of the states concerned to take effective measures
to prevent the use of foreign terrorists and mercenaries in the conflict.”
Macron said he and Putin called for restraint and
agreed upon the need for a joint effort toward a cease-fire, as part of
international mediation efforts for Nagorno-Karabakh led by Russia, France and
the U.S. since a 1994 truce ended a war there.
The president of Azerbaijan said Armenia’s
withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh was the sole condition to end fighting over
the separatist territory. Armenian officials alleged Turkey’s involvement in
the renewed conflict, which Turkey has denied.
