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"A state, which condones and profits from the services of terrorists and jihadists, cannot claim any right to sovereignty over Artsakh and its people,"  Ambassador Armen Papikyan, Permanent Representative of Armenia to OSCE stated on Thursday at the 1288th Permanent Council meeting. The Ambassador's remarks came during a discussion on the 'Aggression of Azerbaijan against Artsakh and Armenia with the direct involvement of Turkey and foreign terrorist fighters.'

In his speech, the Armenian Ambassador pointed to Turkey's direct role in recruitment and deployment of terrorist fighters and mercenaries to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone. "For almost a decade, Turkey has been cultivating and nurturing 29 different terrorist groups in Syria, according to some estimates. It channeled  arms and money to them, provided safe passage through its territory. For the last couple of years, we have seen the active use of foreign terrorist fighters and jihadists in Syria, in Libya and now also in Artsakh. The gross violations of human rights committed by members of these groups against the local population in Syria have been presented  by relevant international enquiries and reports," Said Papikyan. 

He recalled the data of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, suggesting the total confirmed number of Syrian fighters at the Artsakh-Azerbaijani battlefront amount to 2,580. 342 fighters returned to Syria after they “had given up and forgone their payments”. The presence of terrorist fighters in the Karabakh conflict zone is also confirmed by interrogation of two captured fighters. "Their interrogation revealed the exact routes and schemes used for the recruitment and transfer of FTFs and jihadists to fight against Artsakh. They have confirmed that they were recruited by Turkey to fight against “infidels”, they were promised a salary of 2,000 US dollars  per month and additional 100 dollars as a reward for every severed head of the “infidels,” said the Armenian representative.

"We warned that the proliferation of international terrorism to the region of South Caucasus will have a dramatic effect for each and every country of the region and beyond. Therefore, it is more than obvious that we should reinforce our efforts towards eradication of terrorism, and we should particularly concentrate on stoping the financing of terrorist and jihadist groups and their supporters. In this context, we should highlight again that Turkey with its recruitment scheme, supports the terrorism," Ambassador Kirakosyan stressed.

In his words, only international recognition of the right of the people of Artsakh to exercise self-determination and create an independent State can provide the necessary political and legal remedies for ensuring the safety and security of the people of Artsakh and protection of their inalienable rights.