

Karabakh – Clashes have erupted again over Nagorno-Karabakh, where a recent flare-up of violence between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces has left dozens of people dead. One Ezidi soldier fighting in the ranks of the Armenian army is among the casualties.

On April 1 and 2, the Azerbaijani military started to launch attacks on Armenian positions, resulting in casualties on both sides. The 20-year-old Ezidi soldier Karam Sloyan of the Armenian army who was reported among the dead, was apparently beheaded. Pictures of Azerbaijani soldiers holding Sloyan´s decapitated head surfaced on VKontakte, a popular social network among Eastern Europeans.

Soon afterwards an ISIS-style video emerged on the internet, showing Azerbaijanis holding the severed head of Sloyan like a trophy fish.

Sloyan was from the town of Ashtarak in Aragatsotn Province where many of Armenia´s Ezidis live. Similar clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan erupted in December 2015, resulting in the death of Sidar Aloyan, another Ezidi who fought for Armenia.

Turkey has in the meantime pledged its support to the Muslim-dominated Azerbaijan against Armenia.

Warning: the following video contains graphic content

© Boris Murazi – ÊzîdîPress Armenia – April 4, 2016