Turkey’s vice president Fuat Oktay has said the country's National Intelligence Organization (MİT) played an active role in the Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020, helping shape the balances in the field, Nordic Monitor reports.

Oktay made a presentation on the annual activities of state institutions operating under the Presidency at parliament’s Planning and Budget Committee on November 26. Stating that MİT is a "source of pride" for the country, Oktay told deputies that the organization renders great service to Turkey’s interests with the operations it carries out abroad.

“In many regions such as Syria, Libya, Upper Karabakh and most recently Afghanistan, the organization has carried out important work that protects our national interests and shapes the balances in the field in favor of our country, in line with our state policy,” he said.

It is no secret that Turkey supported its ally Azerbaijan militarily, but no official statement has ever been made regarding the involvement of Turkish intelligence in the war.

In the war against Artsakh (Karabakh), Turkey supported Azerbaijan militarily, also by transferring terrorist mercenaries from the Middle East to fight against Karabakh. Armenia was the first to report on Turkey's deployment of thousands of Syrian fighters to Azerbaijan. International media publications followed suit, as did reactions from France, Russia, Iran and Syria. The Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army has already unveiled footage from the interrogation of two such terrorists captured on the front.