Erdogan’s mercenaries in Libya infiltrate southern Europe: Is the old continent moving?

Sarah Rashad

The case of Syrian mercenaries transferred to Libya with Turkey’s knowledge has returned to the forefront of the scene, as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published a recent report, in which it talked about the flight of a number of them to Europe, as soon as it arrived in Libya.

The observatory determined the fate of the Syrian mercenaries in Libya in two tracks, either killing in battles against the Libyan national army, or fleeing to Europe, which raises a question about Turkey’s role in this, and whether it deliberately transferred terrorists to Libya to smuggle part of them to Europe.

The observatory says, “Some of the mercenaries preferred to leave their weapons to join their families in Europe, while some went to Algeria to move from them to southern Europe.”

Turkey has long threatened Europe to transfer the refugees it has to Europe, which is what Europe feared, considering that this is a possibility for terrorists to infiltrate it, and against the background of these threats, Europe criticized Erdogan and accused him of trying to blackmail it.

The political writer, Muhammad Faraj Abu al-Nur, supports the possibility that Turkey is aware of the terrorist movement to Europe, expecting that it will be primarily responsible for the transfers.

He pointed out that Turkey has repeatedly threatened Europe, and deals with mercenaries funded by its knowledge, as its soldiers who pressure any opponents.

He expected that the recent influx would come to escape to Europe, inferring that some mercenaries would leave their weapons upon their arrival in Libya, and their boats would head towards southern Europe.

For his part, Libyan writer Saleh Al-Harti said, “Turkey violates the Libyan geography and practices illegal activities by transferring terrorists to its lands, noting that the scenario of the terrorists’ transfer to Europe does not exclude that Turkey is aware of it at worst.

He expected that it would be a strong impetus for Europe to confront the Turkish project in Libya, as Europe is thus a major victim of this project.

He pointed out that when Europe is certain of this, Europe will intervene to expel the Turkish-funded terrorists from Libya, including “the Libyans who control the capital, Tripoli”.

He said, “Europe has not yet touched the step of the Turkish project in Libya, because it has not confirmed the transfers from Libya to it, considering that as soon as Europe makes sure of this, it will move against Erdogan and his project.