Between Libya, Syria, and Azerbaijan… “Mercenaries” are Erdogan’s fuel to achieve his expansionist ambitions

Cairo – Muhammad Ismail

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not solely dreaming or cherishing hopes he wishes to achieve, but rather the revival of the old Turkish project in the region has evolved into an achievable goal for him, for which he set up mechanisms and painted the way to prepare the region for the upcoming project to return it to its past; he therefore also made use of his most important tool for the respective purpose, which are the „mercenaries“ who have already exacerbated numerous crisis in many conflict beset areas, such as the Libyan conflict and the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

„The Syrian mercenaries“- Their origins, numbers, and factions

Through its violation of sovereign Syrian territory, Turkey mobilized extremist opposition factions for the fighting in its launched operations in the North of the country under the name of the “Syrian National Army”, which has become Turkey’s largest ally or affiliate in Syria.

The “Syrian National Army” was formed from several Syrian opposition factions that have been fighting the Syrian regime’s army since the outbreak of the crisis in 2011 and since then, have received multifaceted Turkish support, including training, money, weapons, and ammunition.

These factions operated under the umbrella of the “Free Syrian Army” until the launch of the first Turkish military operation under the name “Euphrates Shield” in August 2016, and before the Turkish invasion of the Afrin region in 2018; in fact, the so-called “Syrian National Army” was formed after the merging of several Turkish-backed opposition factions.

Under its banner, the National Army entails more than 30 armed groups, including 4 large factions and two Arab groups, namely the Muntasir Billah Brigades and the Hamza Brigades, which were armed by a group of Turkish and American soldiers in 2015, while the other two groups are Turkish-affiliated Syrian Turkmen fighters, who have been active for years and are known as the „Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih Brigades“ and the Sultan Murad Brigades.

In this context, a Libyan military source confirmed to the “Target” Media Platform, preferring not to be mentioned by name, that “there is no specific estimation of the numbers of Turkey’s mercenaries in Libya, especially since some of them were also withdrawn, but in one specific period, specifically the year before, their numbers were assumed to constitute between 5 To 7 thousand fighters, both Syrians as well as Turkmens and other nationalities “.

The most important aspect in this context is that Turkey recruited most of these factions to serve its expansionist agendas in the region, and made them mercenaries not fighting for their causes but rather seeking to achieve the goals and plans of Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party in any geographical area that falls within Turkey’s agenda.

Mercenaries and Erdogan’s dreams of an empire at the expense of Arab countries

In his position, Muhammad Fathi al-Sharif, a researcher for Arab affairs, told the “Target” Media Platform the following: “The pro-Turkish mercenaries were an essential element and an important tool that Erdogan used to ignite conflicts in the region, especially in areas that the Turkish president sees as a legacy of the former Ottoman Empire.“

Al-Sharif further added: „In any region where Turkey has interests, it recruited mercenaries, and the paradox is that it turned them into nomadic armies. With the national army, led by Khalifa Haftar in Libya, approaching the defeat of the involved groups, who emanated from the Muslim Brotherhood and terrorist organizations, Turkey immediately intervened militarily to stop their progress“.

And he continued: “In addition to Turkish military advisors and the ongoing support with weapons, Syrian and Turkmen mercenaries were deployed to fight alongside the armed Libyan militias, and some of the mercenaries were brought from Syria to Libya to assist the government forces that control Tripoli and affiliated with the Turkish regime“.

The researcher in Arab affairs also says, “The paradox is that some used a broad and all-encompassing term in Syria, which is the term of the revolutionaries or the opposition, and Turkey was claiming that it supports the so-called revolutionaries; but unfortunately, this term has expanded to also include terrorist organizations funded and supported by Turkey. If they indeed were revolutionaries and opposition then why would they leave their main cause and instead head off to Libya or Azerbaijan to fight against the Armenian forces in the disputed areas between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which are supported by the Turkish regime for historical and political reasons“.

Al-Sharif further indicates that in light of the great confusion that Turkey created within the ongoing Syrian conflict between the opposition and the terrorist groups, Egypt has always called for the separation and distinction between those who left for a better political life or the national opposition, and those groups that implement the terrorist-affiliated Turkish agenda.

Turkey sought to target Egypt through its mercenaries in Libya

And Al-Sharif confirms, at the end of his statements to the “Target” Platform, that the borders of Erdogan’s mercenaries would not have stopped at Libya or Syria, but it was rather planned for them to reach other countries, beginning with Egypt, if it had not been for the decisive Egyptian stances that drew red lines in Libya, specifically in the region. of Sirte Al-Jufra, which stopped the advance of the Turkish-backed factions.

Moreover, the researcher pointed out that Egypt was closely following what is happening in the Libyan arena as well as Turkey’s activities in transferring Syrian mercenaries to Libya, as this represents a direct threat to Egyptian national security, as for a long time, the Turkish regime wanted to overthrow the Egyptian State.

Deployment of Mercenaries in the Azerbaijani-Armenian Conflict

Just as Turkey deployed Syrian mercenaries throughout the Arab world, it also deployed them in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan as elaborated by Araks Pashayan, head of the International Relations Department at the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences: “Turkey is the close strategic ally of Azerbaijan, as they proclaim the concept of one nation and two states, noting that Ankara decided to support Azerbaijan with mercenaries, and this is the reason for its victory in the war“.

And on their way to Azerbaijan, Pashayan further said during a phone call with the “Target” Media platform that: “The mercenaries were transferred through Turkish channels, but she does not know how many there are, except that their influence was great in the battle after they were placed on the border in the front line to save their soldiers.” Regarding the methods of Turkish support for the mercenaries, Pashayan confirmed that it “supports them from all sides, money, weapons, training, equipment, and other things.“

These previous indicators lastly confirmed beyond any doubt that a large portion of these people left their main causes and went to serve the Turkish agenda in exchange for the huge amount of dollars they receive.