Russia asserts Turkey transports terrorists to Nagorno-Karabakh

The Kremlin on Tuesday urged all sides in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which has pitted Azerbaijan against Armenia and ethnic Armenians in the mountain enclave to halt fighting immediately.

 

The call, by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, came after Russia’s foreign intelligence chief warned that the conflict was drawing in thousands of Islamist radicals who posed a threat to Moscow.

 

According to the information of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia, mercenaries from terrorist organizations of the Middle East are being transferred to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone, head of the service Sergey Naryshkin said.

 

He stressed that the militias are particularly from Jabhat al-Nusra, Firqat al-Hamza and Sultan Murad as well as from extremist Kurdish groups.

 

“And I am speaking of hundreds and already thousands radicals expecting to earn on new Karabakh war,” Naryshkin said in a statement, Interfax reports.

 

“We have no doubt that with the assistance of the international community the conflicting parties will finally end the use of force and will sit at the table of negotiations,” Naryshkin stated.

 

“We cannot though stop worrying that the South Caucasus may become a new foothold for the international terrorist organizations from where the militias will in future try to penetrate to the neighboring countries of Armenia and Azerbaijan, including to Russia,” he said.

 

Basma Qaddour