Egypt appears to be leading Arab efforts to bring Damascus back to the Arab League and find a political solution to the Syrian crisis, in a bid to confront Turkey’s military ambitions in Syria.

Turkey and Azerbaijan deny that Syrian mercenaries were used in the recent offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh but four Syrians have told the BBC that after enlisting for sentry duties in Azerbaijan, they were unexpectedly thrown into battle on the front line.

Head of the government of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani revealed on Wednesday that the fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organisation had brought additional forces from Syria and did not leave the district of Sinjar in the Nineveh governorate.