The Armenian Ministry of Defense has responded to media reports claiming that Turkish special forces have been stationed in the area of Lake Sev in Syunik province for two days.

“The Republic of Armenia, in particular, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, has repeatedly raised the issue that the Turkish Armed Forces are heavily involved in the training, instruction and even management processes of the Azerbaijani army,” the Ministry said.

“The clearest evidence of this was the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), in which the Turkish armed forces were directly involved. The presence of Turkish troops in the units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces has long been a fact, confirmed, including by the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia,” the statement reads.

“From this point of view, the accusations that the Armenian Ministry of Defense is hiding facts related to the presence of Turkish troops in the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are simply baseless.

As for the photo of the soldier with the Turkish emblem, it was taken in the non-Armenian part of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the movement of the military was controlled by Armenia’s Armed Forces, and there is no question of “deployment of a Turkish army unit” in the area,” the Defense Ministry stated.