Turkish military directly managed and coordinated combat trainings of the Azerbaijani troops - Investigative Committee
"In the scope of the preliminary investigation of the criminal cases initiated at Armenia'sInvestigative Committee, factual data were obtained, proving the the planned, organised and conducted criminal acts by the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan," Rafayel Vardanyan, Head of the Criminalistics Department of Armenia's Investigative Committee, told a news conference on Tuesday.
Vardanyan noted that under the general command of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Minister of Defense, Zakir Hasanov and other high-ranking military officials along with the military-political leadership of Turkey an act of aggression was planed and conducted which had started on July 29 when military exercises were conducted in Azerbaijan with Turkey that lasted till August 10.
In his words, after the military exercises, large number of Turkish military, including high-level officers, remained in Azerbaijan, jointly organizing the coordination of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and continued works of military trainings on the ground.
"Starting from mid-September, a large-scale military mobilization was organised in Azerbaijan. It is important to mention that high-level military from Turkey directly managed and coordinated combat readiness trainings in the bases," Vardanyan stressed.
Speaking of the mercenaries involved in the military actions, the official of the Investigative Committee informed that first 1000 Turkish servicemen were transferred from Turkey to Azerbaijan through Georgia airspace.
"On September 28, we obtained data about involvement of Islamist mercenaries in the military actions transferred from other countries. Data were obtained about Arab-speaking militants deployed in the mountainous sections of the Defense Army protection zone, who were tasked with conduct of subversive infiltrations. Their movement was conducted by Cobra light armored vehicles of Turkish production," Vardanyan said.
He also pointed to facts about Syrian mercenaries detected in the border areas of Iran and Artsakh, specifically in the vicinity of Horadiz.
On September 29, at least 300 Arab-speaking militants were involved in the military operation in the direction of eastern frontline. In the words of the IC official, the militants acted independently in separate groups and were tasked to secure the actions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
The Armenian official informed that Azerbaijan deployed artillery units right in the yards of houses in densely populated civilian settlements adjacent to the contact line of the Azerbaijani-Artsakh forces.
Before September 27 and the following days, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces have been continuously supplied with military equipment obtained from Israel, Turkey, Czech Republic, Belarus and other countries.