Armenian court records detail an alleged Turkish-organized “pipeline” through which hundreds of Syrian fighters were recruited, trained, moved through Turkey and flown to Azerbaijan to fight Armenian forces during the 2020 Artsakh War, according to an investigation published by Nordic Monitor on September 3.

The records concern Syrian nationals Muhrab Muhammad al-Shkheri and Youssef Alabet al-Haji, who were captured by Armenian forces during the war and later sentenced to life imprisonment in Armenia.

According to court documents reviewed by Nordic Monitor, recruitment began months before Azerbaijan launched its offensive on September 27, 2020.

One of the main figures identified in the Armenian case was Muhammad Hussein al-Jasim, better known as Abu Amsha, commander of the Turkish-backed Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade. Armenian prosecutors alleged that Abu Amsha had been recruited by Turkish intelligence and instructed to enlist Syrian fighters willing to fight Armenian forces for money.

Al-Shkheri was reportedly approached in June 2020 and offered around $2,000 per month. He was then taken to Sheikh Hadid in northern Syria, where prosecutors said approximately 500 recruits underwent military and physical training between June and September.

The timeline indicates that preparations were underway months before the war began.

According to the case files, on October 17, al-Shkheri and other recruits joined a group of approximately 250 fighters near the Syrian-Turkish border. Prosecutors said they crossed into Turkey near Kilis without normal passport or identification checks.

The group was then transported through civilian airports inside Turkey, where approximately 50 Turkish military personnel were allegedly waiting to receive them. The fighters were subsequently placed aboard an aircraft bearing Azerbaijani markings and flown to Azerbaijan on October 18.

After landing, they were allegedly met by more than 30 Azerbaijani servicemen and taken to a military facility, where they were issued Azerbaijani uniforms, Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns and RPG anti-tank weapons.

The second captured fighter, Youssef Alabet al-Haji, described a similar route.

According to the court records, al-Haji was taken to the Bab al-Salam crossing on September 25, just two days before the Azerbaijani offensive began. Around 500 Syrian men between the ages of 20 and 40 had allegedly gathered there after being promised approximately $2,000 per month.

The group crossed into Turkey without passport checks, was transported to an airport and then flown to Azerbaijan, according to the prosecution.

After arriving, the fighters were photographed, issued identification tags and supplied with Azerbaijani military uniforms, weapons and ammunition.

The Armenian criminal files also contain allegations concerning the orders given to the recruits after their deployment.

According to prosecutors, the Syrian fighters were instructed not to spare Armenians. In al-Haji’s case, investigators alleged that recruits were promised an additional $100 for presenting the severed head of an Armenian and were issued long-bladed knives.

The prosecution said the fighters were instructed to attack Armenian settlements, kill servicemen and civilians, and carry out arson and explosions intended to terrorize the population.

The accounts in the Armenian case files closely resemble allegations raised internationally while the war was still underway.

On November 6, 2020, UN special rapporteurs formally raised information concerning the deployment of Syrian fighters in support of Azerbaijani forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The communication included allegations that Turkey had participated in recruiting, financing and transporting the fighters.

According to information cited by Nordic Monitor from the UN proceedings, recruitment had begun by August 2020, fighters were offered as much as $2,500 per month, and an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 Syrian fighters had been deployed to Azerbaijan by late September.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee later said it had identified approximately 300 mercenaries involved in military operations carried out by Azerbaijan during the war.

In separate proceedings, Armenian investigators said 31 Syrian nationals, including the leader of an armed group, had been charged in connection with mercenary activity, international terrorism and serious violations of international humanitarian law.

The Investigative Committee said its investigation established that al-Shkheri and al-Haji were Syrian citizens who were neither Azerbaijani nationals nor permanent residents and had participated in the war as members of an organized group in exchange for financial compensation.

The investigation was completed in April 2021 and sent for prosecution. Both men were sentenced to life imprisonment by an Armenian court in May 2021.

According to Nordic Monitor, their defense lawyer said they admitted being recruited as mercenaries but denied committing war crimes.

Abu Amsha, whom Armenian prosecutors identified as a key organizer of the alleged recruitment “pipeline,” was later sanctioned by the United States.

In August 2023, the US Treasury sanctioned Abu Amsha, the Suleiman Shah Brigade and the Hamza Division over serious human rights abuses in northern Syria, including abductions, extortion and abuses targeting Kurdish residents.

Those sanctions were unrelated to the Artsakh War and do not independently establish his alleged role in sending fighters to Azerbaijan.

Turkey and Azerbaijan have denied that Syrian mercenaries were recruited and deployed to fight Armenian forces. Turkey rejected the allegations presented to UN experts as unfounded, while Azerbaijan denied using foreign mercenaries.

The Armenian court records, however, provide a detailed reconstruction of an alleged recruitment and transportation “pipeline” that closely overlaps with information reported to UN experts during the war: Syrian fighters recruited for substantial salaries, moved through Turkish-controlled territory and Turkish airports, and then deployed alongside Azerbaijani forces.

In January 2026, Armenia transferred al-Shkheri and al-Haji through Turkey to Syrian authorities, officially for the continuation of their Armenian life sentences in Syria.

Their transfer took place the same day Azerbaijan released four Armenian detainees, although Armenian authorities did not officially confirm that the two developments were part of an exchange.