Analysts find CIT's data on mercenary involvement in Karabakh conflict reliable

The information of the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), an independent investigation group, about the participation of Syrian mercenaries in the Karabakh conflict is confirmed by other sources, Armenian experts assert.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that earlier this month, Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged accusations of using Middle East militants in the conflict. According to the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper, Turkey is recruiting mercenaries in Syria for taking part in the Karabakh conflict on the side of Azerbaijan, while Armenians from Syria and Lebanon are also going to the war zone.

According to the CIT, the Syrians involved in the fighting have been "almost entirely recruited in north-western Syria, where, apart from local residents, there are many refugees."

The crisis and unemployment create the basis for easy recruitment of Syrians; the amount of remuneration for participation in the conflict is from USD 600 to 2500. Estimates of the estimated number of Syrians vary – from one to four thousand people, but the latter figure is treated by the CIT as overestimated.

The CIT authors have serious professional knowledge for conduct investigations, but there is no such work in the article, said Aik Khachikyan, an analyst at the "Razm.info" portal. He has treated the information that militants from Iraq, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party, are fighting on the side of Armenia as manipulation. According to his version, there are Syrians who had earlier moved to Armenia for residence; and they, as residents of the country, have voluntarily gone to war.