Azerbaijani mercenaries fighting in Syria
Azerbaijani citizen Hasin Khazli was killed in Syria during neutralization of an armed group of terrorists, RFE/RL reported on October 19, citing Syrian news agency SANA. Ghazli was reported to have infiltrated Syria through Turkish-Syrian border as a part of a group of militants.The fact that Azerbaijan offers support to Syrian rebels was no secret even before Khazli’s death. In October Iranian “arannews.ir” website reported that Baku extended assistance of euro 500 thous. to Syrian terrorists.Azerbaijan together with Turkey has been actively involved in the Syrian conflict right from the start in backing the opposition.Azeri mercenaries were even said to undergo special training in Turkey’s province of Hatay before getting to Syria, with the largest number of Azeris reported in Turkish Apaydyn camp, according to Voskanapat.info.In late August, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accused the Turkish government of masterminding Syrian unrest, stating that “Turkey claims direct responsibility for the bloodshed in the country.”On November 9, Iranian “arannews.ir” reported, citing Syrian state television that Azerbaijani citizen bearing “Islamov” second name was killed in neutralization of terrorist groups by Syrian government forces. The terrorist group was reported to consist of mainly citizens from Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan.The Azeri terrorist killed in Syria was later identified as Islamov Zahur Aleskerovich, born in 1975, Voskanapat.info reported.Photographs of other three Azerbaijani terrorists killed in Syria were later discovered.