ANKARA (PanARMENIAN.Net) — Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who previously headed the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) for 13 years, on August 11 admitted that Turkish soldiers died in the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2020.
Before a meeting of Turkey’s National Security Council (MGK), President Recep Tayyip Erdogan awarded Fidan with a medal for distinguished service for his work as deputy undersecretary and president of MIT.
Upon receiving the award, Fidan stated that “I am receiving this medal on behalf of my friends, who were martyred in Libya, Karabakh, Syria and Iraq to carry out your orders while serving with me,” RT reports.
Fidan’s statement confirmed Turkey had been directly involved in the conflict, which cost thousands of servicemen and over a hundred civilians their lives.
Suspicions of Ankara’s role in the 2020 Karabakh War arose at the time, when a number of reports, as well as several US and French officials, implied Turkey had helped Azerbaijan prepare and instigate the conflict. Citing military and diplomatic sources, the Kommersant newspaper alleged that Ankara had helped Baku by supplying it with weapons and had even sent in fighters from Syria and Libya.
