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Foreign Ministry comments on reports on killing of Azerbaijani mujahideen in Syria

09 January 2014 09:23 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Hafiz Heydarov - APA. Foreign Ministry has commented on the recent reports on the killing of Azerbaijani citizens in Syria.

Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Elman Abdullayev told APA that the ministry is closely following what is going on in Syria.

“The situation in Syria remains tense. We have stated earlier that Azerbaijan’s embassy has suspended its activity. The embassy moved to Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. Despite this, we are closely following what is going on in Syria. First of all, we are trying to determine whether the persons reportedly killed there are Azerbaijani citizens or not. If these persons are proved to be Azerbaijani citizens or Azerbaijanis, it should be investigated how they went to Syria. Taking into account the facts that the situation in Syria remains tense and there is no diplomatic representation in this country, it is not hard to see what obstacles it will create for our investigations. Bur despite these difficulties and obstacles, we continue investigations,” he said.

Abdullayev said the warning issued by Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2011, against traveling to Syria is still valid.

As the situation became tense a large number of Azerbaijani citizens started to go Syria and fight against the government forces within various radical groups. Nearly 100 Azerbaijanis were killed in the battles during this period. Photos of most of them were posted on social networks by the Mujahideen. Four Azerbaijani fighters reportedly were killed in Syria last week.