YEREVAN, MARCH 4, ARMENPRESS. Armenian authorities provided nearly 250 identification data on foreign mercenaries whom Azerbaijan deployed in the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war to the CIS Counter-Terrorism Center, the Deputy Director of the Armenian National Security Service (NSS) Samvel Hayrapetyan revealed.

“Nearly 250 identification data were entered to their information resources in order to prevent [the mercenaries’] access to various countries in the future,” he said in parliament in response to a question from MP Armen Gevorgyan (Hayastan faction) during debates on the ratification of the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism.

Gevorgyan inquired from the deputy chief of the NSS whether or not the ratification would give new opportunities to condemn and raise in international bodies the issue of Azerbaijan’s deployment of mercenaries during the 2020 war.

In response, Hayrapetyan said the matter could be problematic from the point of view of the international community that Nagorno Karabakh could be recognized as a party participating in the ratification, but he said that the NSS used its international regulations to make the information accessible to different international bodies. The information on the foreign mercenaries was provided through the foreign ministry channels, while the NSS gave the information to the CIS Counter-Terrorism Center.

Turkey recruited and sent foreign mercenaries to fight for Azerbaijan against Armenia in the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war.

Despite Ankara denying this, the Armenian authorities have presented numerous evidence proving the participation of the Syrian mercenaries from the Azeri side.

The Russian foreign intelligence service had also gathered information on Sultan Murad mercenaries’ participation in the Karabakh war.

The President of France Emmanuel Macron also said that his intelligence agencies have information that Turkey is sending mercenaries to Azerbaijan to fight against Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh.

Earlier in 2021, the Armenian authorities said that the investigation has revealed that Azerbaijan pre-planned the war back in June 2020 and recruited more than 2000 Syrian mercenaries and deployed them via Turkey. Azeri authorities transferred payments namely to the Suleyman Shah and Sultan Murad terror groups.

Audio recordings of the Sultan Murad fighters in Nagorno Karabakh were intercepted during the war.

Two Syrian mercenaries captured by the Armenian forces were subsequently sentenced to life in prison.