ArmInfo.International community should demand explanations from the Azerbaijani authorities on the facts published by the Bulgarian media about the transfer of arms to Syria to Islamic militants and the use of white phosphorus at the zone of Karabakh conflict. Armenian Vice Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov stated in a conversation with ArmInfo correspondent.
Moreover, he stressed, relevant international institutions should initiate an investigation into these facts. "But for me and those who know the policy of Baku, the facts published by the Bulgarian media were not a surprise, since Azerbaijan's actions in the Karabakh conflict zone are not different from the actions of Islamists in Syria and Iraq. The Azerbaijani military as well as Islamists mutilate the captives and mock the corpses of the dead adversaries. During the April war, the same Azerbaijani military tortured the elderly who lived in the Armenian village of Talish, and then killed them. It's no secret that in the 90s terrorist groups led by Shamil Basayev fought on the side of Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh, and Minsk mediators know about this as well. So, Baku's connection with the militants is not new, and we have always stated that Azerbaijan is a potential nest of terrorism in the region, "Sharmazanov said, stressing that ignoring the international community of these facts will contribute to the flourishing of world terrorism.
On July 3, Bulgarian edition Trud published an investigation by correspondent Dilyana Gaytanjiyeva that, under the diplomatic flights, the State Air Company of Azerbaijan Silk Way Airlines made 350 flights to Syria, delivering weapons to ISIS fighters. According to the publication, dozens of tons of weapons were delivered each time under diplomatic cover, including for radical Islamists in Syria, and, presumably, Kurdish forces. Documents confirming the transportation of weapons to Baku were handed over to the Bulgarian journalist by hackers acting under the name Anonymous Bulgaria. Among them - correspondence between Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Bulgaria and many other European countries, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. The article also deals with the delivery of white phosphorus, which, allegedly, was intended for the National Police of Afghanistan. And right after that, in 2016, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of using white phosphorus. Armenia denied the accusations and stated the falsification of the facts, since the confirmation was based only on one unexploded shell, which was found by the Azerbaijani soldiers on the front line. "Meanwhile, according to the documents from the Azerbaijani embassy in Bulgaria, ammunition with white phosphorus was delivered to Azerbaijan in 2015 for its own use of the country, including at the Karabakh conflict zone," the publication of the Bulgarian Trud says.