BAKU, October 1. /TASS/. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan claimed Thursday that Armenia involves foreign mercenaries in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, primarily from the Middle East.

"In response to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s commentary regarding the transportation of foreign mercenaries to the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict area, we would like to note that we have repeatedly voiced concerns about Armenia’s widespread use of such means," the Ministry said in a statement published on its website.

According to the statement, mercenaries from the Middle East are being involved especially actively.

The Foreign Ministry claims that Armenia "transports foreign mercenaries to the occupied Azerbaijani territories as part of the policy of illegal settlement" and "recruits them to its army as ‘volunteers’ to use them in combat operations against Azerbaijan."

On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concerns regarding the reports of transportation of mercenaries from Syria and Libya to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict area. The Ministry noted that such processes lead not only to even higher escalation of tensions in the conflict zone, but also create long-term threats to security of all countries in the region.