Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement of the United Nations working group on the use of mercenaries on 11 November that “the Government of Azerbaijan, with Turkey’s assistance, relied on Syrian fighters to shore-up and sustain its military operations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, including on the frontline”; and what assessment they have made of the participation of Syrian fighters in the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The UK Government noted the 11 November statement of the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries, in which the Group said it had received reports that both Azerbaijan and Armenia had deployed foreign fighters in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. While the Government is also aware of such reports, we have not yet seen solid evidence to substantiate the claims. The UK Government has made no assessment of President Macron's 1 October statement and is not aware of the specific information to which he referred.