Azerbaijani Media Distorts German Foreign Minister's Words on Mercenaries in Artsakh War

Azerbaijani media outlets, staying true to their policy of distorting facts, have misrepresented the words of Heiko Maas, Germany’s Foreign Minister and President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. According to Armenpress, Sputnik Azerbaijan reported that in response to a question regarding the use of mercenaries by Azerbaijan during the recent war in Artsakh, Maas stated that no evidence has been found on the matter.

From the transcript of Germany's Foreign Minister’s full remarks, it is clear that Maas did not make such a statement. Instead, he indicated that they are aware of the issue and that it is not the only conflict involving Syrian mercenaries. “We are familiar with the issue of Syrian mercenaries in Nagorno-Karabakh, but I think we need to understand that this is not the only conflict at the moment involving Syrian mercenaries. We also have such a situation in Libya. According to the information we have (regarding Nagorno-Karabakh), we assume that there are still a certain number of Syrian mercenaries remaining in the conflict zone, and all efforts have been made on an international level to understand how they were used, their numbers, and who is responsible for their presence. However, we do not have final information on this matter,” Maas stated.