Armenia Says Turkey Sent 4,000 Syrian Fighters to Azerbaijan amid Fighting

Footage released by Armenian Defense Ministry on Sunday, shows its army destroying Azerbaijani tanks. (AP)
Footage released by Armenian Defense Ministry on Sunday, shows its army destroying Azerbaijani tanks. (AP)
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Armenia Says Turkey Sent 4,000 Syrian Fighters to Azerbaijan amid Fighting

Footage released by Armenian Defense Ministry on Sunday, shows its army destroying Azerbaijani tanks. (AP)
Footage released by Armenian Defense Ministry on Sunday, shows its army destroying Azerbaijani tanks. (AP)

Armenia’s ambassador to Russia said on Monday that Turkey had sent around 4,000 fighters from northern Syria to Azerbaijan amid fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Interfax news agency reported.

The ambassador said the fighters were taking part in fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inside Azerbaijan that is run by ethnic Armenians, the RIA news agency reported.

Turkey is a close ally of Azerbaijan.

The Armenian foreign ministry also accused Turkey on Monday of providing direct military support for Azerbaijan.

In a statement, it said Turkey had a “direct presence on the ground”. It said Turkish military experts “are fighting side by side” with Azerbaijan, which it said was also using Turkish weapons including drones and warplanes.

Azerbaijan denied the allegations. There was no immediate reaction from Turkey.

Armenian and Azeri forces exchanged fierce fire for a second day on Monday, with the sides accusing each other of using heavy artillery amid reports of at least 21 deaths and hundreds of people being wounded.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday Armenia must immediately withdraw from territory he said it was occupying in Azerbaijan, and it was time to end a crisis over the breakaway region.

“It is time to end the crisis in the region, which started with the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. The region will once again see peace after Armenia immediately withdraws from the Azeri lands it is occupying,” Erdogan told an event in Istanbul.

He said the Minsk group - which is led by Russia, France and the United States and mediates between Armenia and Azerbaijan - had failed to solve the issue for almost 30 years.

Azerbaijan “had to take matters into its own hands whether it likes it or not,” Erdogan said. “Turkey will continue to stand with...Azerbaijan with all its resources and heart.”

He did not directly address whether Turkey was currently playing an active role in the conflict.

Earlier, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Armenia must send back foreign “mercenaries and terrorists” to achieve stability in region.

The clashes, the heaviest since 2016, have rekindled concern over stability in the South Caucasus region, a corridor for pipelines carrying oil and gas to world markets.

The two former Soviet republics have clashed periodically in a decades-long conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan’s president declared a partial military mobilization, and his foreign minister said six Azeri civilians had been killed and 19 injured since the fighting began. Interfax news agency quoted an Armenian defense ministry representative as saying 200 Armenians had been wounded.

Nagorno-Karabakh reported that 15 more of its soldiers had been killed. It had said on Sunday 16 of its servicemen had been killed and more than 100 wounded after Azerbaijan launched an air and artillery attack.

Nagorno-Karabakh also said it had recovered some territory that it had lost control of on Sunday, and said Azerbaijan had been using heavy artillery to shell areas.

Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said Armenian forces were shelling the town of Terter.

China and Russia urged both sides to show restraint.

Under international law, Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as part of Azerbaijan. But the ethnic Armenians who make up the vast majority of the population reject Azeri rule.

They have run their own affairs, with support from Armenia, since Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan in a conflict that erupted as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Although a ceasefire was agreed in 1994, after thousands of people were killed and many more displaced, Azerbaijan and Armenia frequently accuse each other of attacks around Nagorno-Karabakh and along the separate Azeri-Armenian frontier.

Pipelines shipping Caspian oil and natural gas from Azerbaijan to the world pass close to Nagorno-Karabakh.

At least 200 people were killed in a flare-up of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in April 2016. At least 16 people were killed in clashes in July.



Western Countries Urge Iran to Immediately Dispose of its Highly Enriched Stockpile

IAEA head Rafael Grossi
IAEA head Rafael Grossi
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Western Countries Urge Iran to Immediately Dispose of its Highly Enriched Stockpile

IAEA head Rafael Grossi
IAEA head Rafael Grossi

While the United Kingdom, France and Germany on Thursday urged Iran to immediately dispose of its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60 %, the UN atomic watchdog's 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution ordering Tehran to urgently improve cooperation with the Agency.

In a joint statement to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors on Iran’s implementation of its nuclear commitments under the JCPoA, France, Germany and the United Kingdom on Thursday called on Iran to halt and reverse its nuclear escalation and refrain from making threats to produce nuclear weapons.

The three countries asked Tehran to return to the limits imposed by the JCPoA, in particular those regarding enrichment.

They said Iran should allow the Agency to install surveillance and monitoring equipment where requested, re-implement and swiftly ratify its Additional Protocol and fully reverse its September 2023 decision to withdraw the designations of experienced inspectors.

On Thursday, the UN atomic watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution again ordering Iran to urgently improve cooperation with the Agency and requesting a “comprehensive” report aimed at pressuring Iran into fresh nuclear talks.

The resolution was proposed by Britain, France, Germany and the United States.

Seen by AFP, it says it is “essential and urgent” for Iran to “act to fulfil its legal obligations.”

The text also calls on Tehran to provide “technically credible explanations” for the presence of uranium particles found at two undeclared locations in Iran.

Moreover, Western powers are asking for a “comprehensive report” to be issued by the IAEA on Iran's nuclear efforts “at the latest” by spring 2025.

No Peaceful Purpose

Meanwhile, Washington's delegation to the Board of Governors said in a press release that “Iran has already amassed a substantial stockpile of highly enriched uranium for which it has no credible peaceful purpose.”

It noted that if Iran is interested in demonstrating the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program, it should do much more than take easily reversible steps.

“It should provide greater assurance, including resuming implementation of the Additional Protocol, and provide full transparency regarding centrifuge component production,” the delegation said in a statement.

Since 2021, Tehran has significantly decreased its cooperation with the agency by deactivating surveillance devices to monitor the nuclear programme and barring UN inspectors.

At the same time, Iran has rapidly ramped up its nuclear activities, including by increasing its stockpiles of enriched uranium.

That has heightened fears that Tehran might be seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, which it denies.

The resolution comes just as IAEA head Rafael Grossi returned from a trip to Tehran last week, where he appeared to have made headway.

During the visit, Iran agreed to an IAEA demand to cap its sensitive stock of near weapons-grade uranium enriched up to 60% purity.

“This is a concrete step in the right direction,” Grossi told reporters Wednesday, saying it was “the first time” Iran had made such a commitment since it started breaking away from its obligations under the nuclear deal.

EU Warnings

The European Union on Thursday warned that Iran had deviated from its commitments under the nuclear deal and has sharply increased its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60%, a level with significant proliferation risks and no credible civilian justification.

In a statement delivered during the IAEA Board of Governors meeting, the EU emphasized that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons remains a critical security priority.

The EU urged all nations to support the implementation of Resolution 2231, which underpins the IAEA’s monitoring and verification of Iran’s nuclear program.

It then expressed regret over Iran’s failure to return to its nuclear-related JCPOA commitments, which has led to significant nuclear advancements over the past five years.

These actions, the EU noted, have heightened the risk of nuclear proliferation in the region.

In return, Iran warned on Thursday that the resolution tabled by Western countries to censure Iran’s nuclear program at the International Atomic Energy Agency “will weaken and disrupt” interactions between the UN body and Tehran.

“This inappropriate action of the three European countries to issue a resolution against Iran will only weaken and disrupt interactive processes between the agency and Iran,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement carried by the foreign ministry.

The Iranian deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said on X on Wednesday that the three European countries were using the IAEA as a “political tool.”