13 Russian and 4 Azerbaijani citizens caught on Syria border in attempt to join ISIS

The Turkish authorities have detained the Russian student Varvara Karaulova on the Syrian border. She allegedly attempted to join the radical organization ISIS. According to the report of the Russian Embassy in Ankara, Karaulova was detained in the town of Kilis to the south-east of Turkey while she attempted to illegally cross the Syrian border. Igor Mityakov, the embassy press attaché, said that the Turkish Interpol carried out the operation of detention. According to preliminary information, 13 more Russians and 4 Azerbaijani citizens were detained with Karaulova, Russian service of BBC reports.

Karaulova’s family thinks the girl has been recruited by the representatives of the radical group ISIS. They say she recently got many readings on Islam. The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs said it carries out operations to check the student’s actions for corpus delicti. Karaulova faces charges of attempt to join illegal armed groups, BBC reports.

For years, the Azerbaijani terrorists have been fighting in the ranks of various terrorist groupings that operate in Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the Azerbaijani news reports, almost 200 Azerbaijani terrorists have been killed only in Syria over the past three years. There were also numerous reports about the liquidation of commanders among the Azerbaijani terrorists.

The relationship between international terrorist groups and Azerbaijan originated in the early 1990s. That time, the Azerbaijani army, having failed in the aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), retreated with losses. Trying to save the situation, the Azerbaijani leadership, headed by Heydar Aliyev attracted to the war against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh international terrorists and members of radical groups from Afghanistan (groupings of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar), Turkey ("Grey Wolves", etc.), Chechnya (groupings Basayev and Raduyev etc.) and some other regions.

Despite the involvement in of thousands of foreign mercenaries and terrorists in the Azerbaijani army during the war, the Azerbaijani aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh Republic failed, and the Baku authorities were forced to sign an armistice with the NKR and Armenia. However, international terrorists found ties in Azerbaijan, and used them in the future. Recruitment was conducted among Azerbaijanis, who then were sent to Afghanistan and the North Caucasus, where participated in the battles against the forces of the international coalition and Russian organizations. In recent years, the citizens of Azerbaijan are actively involved in terrorist and extremist activities in Russia, Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

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