13:29, 2 April, 2021

BERN, APRIL 2, ARMENPRESS. 33 MPs of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland have called for pressure on Turkey in a letter which highlights human rights violations committed by Turkey in its own country and in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Armenia, ANF reported.

The lawmakers urged the Swiss government to postpone ratification of the country's new free trade agreement with Ankara until Turkey implements the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.

Mentioning Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “warlike” foreign policy, the Swiss lawmakers said in the letter that “[Erdogan] has encouraged Azerbaijan to resort to force to settle a territorial conflict with Armenia”. The MPs also noted that Turkey recruited and sent mercenaries to Azerbaijan in total violation of international law.

Turkey sent thousands of Syrian mercenaries to Azerbaijan to attack Artsakh in the 2020 war. Several of these mercenaries were detained by Armenian forces and testified how they were recruited in Turkey.

Editing by Stepan Kocharyan