BRUSSELS, October 1. /TASS/. France has "precise information" that Syrian militants from Turkey are involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh fighting, French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday after he arrived to the EU summit in Brussels.
"We have precise information that indicates that the Syrian militants have abandoned the battlefield in Gaziantep [southern Turkey] in order to join the fighting in Karabakh. This is very serious. In the upcoming hours, we will discuss it here at the summit," he said.
The French President underscored that the situation in Karabakh is serious and that he will do everything he can to make the countries return to the negotiations table.
"We will do everything to stop the fighting and return to the peaceful way," he said.
Macron also noted that France, Russia and the US adopted a joint statement on Karabakh and agreed to exchange the information on the situation.
"We agreed with President Trump and President Putin to exchange all information on this situation, in order to make all necessary conclusions. As participants of the OSCE Minsk Group, we act in order to return the situation to its normal state and to ensure an unconditional ceasefire," he added.
Previously, the three presidents, as the leaders of the co-chair countries of the Minsk Group, adopted a statement on Nagorno-Karabakh. The leaders stated their decisive condemnation of the escalation of violence in the conflict area and called to cessation of fighting between the sides’ armed forces.
The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27; battles go on at the disputed territory. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia enacted martial law and declared mobilization. Baku claims control of several Karabakh settlements and strategic heights. Yerevan debunks these statements and says territories of mainland Armenia are being shelled as well.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them.