At least 64 Proturc Syrian fighters have been killed in Nagorno Karabakh since the start of clashes between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in the separatist territory, an NGO said on Saturday.
Read also: Nagorno-Karabakh: in Martouni, under fire from Azerbaijani artillery
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), 1,200 Syrians who had fought against Bashar al-Assad's regime were sent by Turkey to fight alongside Azerbaijani forces against the Yerevan-backed separatists.
The NGO had previously reported a figure of 850 combatants, sent over the past week.
At least 36 of these Syrian rebels have perished in the past 48 hours, added OSDH, bringing the death toll to 64.
Since the start of hostilities, Armenia has accused Turkey of sending
Syrian
"
mercenaries
" to Nagorny Karabakh.
She has not officially commented on these allegations.
To read also: Conflict in Karabakh: "Do not go to Agdam"
Since September 27, heavy fighting has raged in Nagorny Karabakh, mostly populated by Armenians, which seceded from Azerbaijan, leading to a war in the early 1990s that left 30,000 dead.
The front had been almost frozen since despite regular clashes.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that 300 “
jihadist
”
fighters
had left Syria to join Azerbaijan via Turkey, a “
red line
” according to him.
In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry warned of "
flagrant Turkish interference
" in this conflict.
Ankara "
aims to stir up the situation, an attitude which is constant among the Turkish regime in several countries, where it has created tensions and fueled the fire of sedition,
" said the ministry in a statement released by the agency Syrian official Sana.