![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/121000035393.jpg\")
Presidents Erdogan and Aliyev. (Credit: Asbarez.com)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
February 25, 2021\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>By David Boyajian<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Azerbaijan deployed thousands<\/i> of mercenaries in last year\u2019s 44-day war that it and Turkey waged against Artsakh\/Nagorno-Karabagh and Armenia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Azerbaijan thereby flagrantly violated the UN\u2019s International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries<\/i> (UNMERC) which it signed<\/span><\/a> in 1997.<\/span><\/p>\n Forty-six countries have signed UNMERC including Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and Poland.<\/span><\/p>\n These mercenaries are not clean-cut military men.\u00a0 <\/span>They\u2019re terrorists, thugs, jihadis, and fanatics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Evidence<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n They include former ISIS commander Sayf Balud<\/span><\/a>, and members of the Hamza Division, Sultan Murad Brigade, Al-Amshat Militia, Free Syrian Army (FSA\/SNA), and other factions.<\/span><\/p>\n Many were brought into Azerbaijan before the war began on September 27, 2020.\u00a0 <\/span>Unknown numbers remain there despite the November 9 armistice<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Armenian forces captured<\/span><\/a> two mercenaries who came from Syria\u2019s Hama and Idlib provinces.<\/span><\/p>\n The independent, UK-based, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has confirmed<\/span><\/a> Azerbaijan\u2019s employing mercenaries.\u00a0 <\/span>In October, it numbered them at over 2,050 with 145 dead.<\/span><\/p>\n Columbia University\u2019s Institute for the Study of Human Rights has named<\/span><\/a> the chief mercenary commanders, such as Fehim Isa of the Sultan Murad Brigade, and their organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n Video<\/a> <\/span>and audio<\/span><\/a> recordings have identified<\/span><\/a> many of the mercenaries. <\/span><\/p>\n Azeri soldiers have forced some of them into battle at gunpoint<\/span><\/a> and lied about the combat conditions.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHaji \u2026 don\u2019t come,\u201d warned one mercenary. \u201cWe have been deceived \u2026 this is a meat grinder<\/span><\/a>.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Earlier Mercenaries <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Azerbaijan\u2019s importing<\/span><\/a> mercenaries\/jihadis is nothing new<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>Nor is its involvement in terrorism.<\/span><\/p>\n Azerbaijan\u2019s political and military cultures are clearly deranged, as are Turkey\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n Turkey is a shameless<\/span><\/a>, longtime<\/span><\/a> ISIS supporter, which the U.S. Treasury Department just identified as a \u201clogistical hub\u201d<\/span><\/a> for ISIS.<\/span><\/p>\n Turkey and Azerbaijan\u2019s Guilt<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Most of the mercenaries used by Azerbaijan were flown in by Turkey. \u00a0 <\/span>They often came from the ranks of Turkey\u2019s proxy jihadist organizations (named above) in Syria who had reportedly committed atrocities and war crimes there.<\/span><\/p>\n Turkey typically recruits jihadis\/mercenaries through SADAT, a quasi-official Turkish military contracting company.\u00a0 <\/span>Led by former Brigadier General Adnan Tanr\u0131verdi and other Turkish officers, SADAT<\/span><\/a> is loyal to Turkish President Erdogan.\u00a0 <\/span>Turkey\u2019s use of SADAT contravenes the UN\u2019s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.<\/span><\/p>\n Turkey has also been sending terrorists and jihadis to fight in Libya\u2019s civil war.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Azerbaijan may also have recruited mercenaries from elsewhere, such as Pakistan, according to some reports.<\/span><\/p>\n Regardless of the source of the mercenaries, Azerbaijan has brazenly violated UNMERC.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Charges against Turkey and Azerbaijan<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n A bi-partisan letter to the State and Defense Departments by one hundred U.S. House members has criticized<\/span><\/a> \u201cTurkish backed foreign mercenaries [in Azerbaijan], many alleged to have ties to internationally recognized terrorist groups.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n A European Parliament resolution has deplored<\/span><\/a> \u201cthe transfer of foreign terrorist fighters by Turkey from Syria and elsewhere to Nagorno-Karabakh, as confirmed by international actors, including the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n On November 6, 2020, the UN\u2019s Working Group on the use of mercenaries<\/i> and two Special Rapporteurs sent a strongly worded, eight-page letter<\/span><\/a> to Turkey and Azerbaijan that detailed the charges against them. <\/span><\/p>\n The way \u201cSyrian fighters are allegedly being recruited, transported and used in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict appears consistent with the definition of a mercenary, as set out by relevant international legal instruments.\u00a0 <\/span>Furthermore, their deployment appears to have contributed to the rapid escalation and intensification of hostilities, in turn resulting in civilian harm and suffering.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Seventy-six days later \u2014 in a short, vacuous, and predictably arrogant<\/span><\/a> reply \u2014 Turkey called the Working Group\u2019s<\/i> charges \u201cfake news.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has similarly denied<\/span><\/a> using mercenaries. <\/span><\/p>\n UNMERC signatory Georgia is also culpable.\u00a0 <\/span>It has knowingly<\/i><\/span><\/a> permitted Turkey to use Georgian airspace to transport the terrorists to Azerbaijan. <\/span><\/p>\n Next Moves <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Armenia has just filed<\/span><\/a> war crimes lawsuits against Azerbaijan in the European Court of Human Rights.<\/span><\/p>\n Armenia, a member of the UN Human Rights Council, should also petition that organization to promptly<\/i> sanction Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Georgia. <\/span><\/p>\n The case against the three countries could not be clearer.\u00a0 <\/span>A lengthy investigation would be superfluous and counterproductive.<\/span><\/p>\n UNMERC signatories are especially obligated to hold the guilty parties accountable. <\/span><\/p>\n Human rights organizations worldwide must demand action, not mere words, from their respective governments and the UN.<\/span><\/p>\n David Boyajian is an independent writer who focuses on commentary and investigative reports regarding the Caucasus.\u00a0 <\/span>His work can be found at<\/i><\/b>\u00a0http:\/\/www.armeniapedia.org\/wiki\/David_Boyajian<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n #\u00a0 <\/span>#\u00a0 <\/span>#<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Reference<\/p>\n\n