Syrian mercenaries paid $2,000 a month for Erdogan’s war in Azerbaijan

Robeir al-Fares

Media sources have confirmed that the commander of the Hamza Division, Saif Abu Bakr, was seriously injured in Azerbaijan after being targeted by a missile by the Armenian army, which following the fall of Erdogan’s mercenaries in Azerbaijan.

Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, confirmed in press statements that the Turkish government’s process of converting the Syrian people into mercenaries continues. He added that 72 of those mercenaries whom Erdogan had thrown into the battle of Karabakh were killed after the Turkish president told them that their mission was to guard the borders in Azerbaijan.

There are at least 1,200 fighters who have gone to Azerbaijan, Abdulrahman revealed, adding that the recruitment process to send mercenaries is still ongoing and that hundreds of fighters are preparing to go fight in Azerbaijan.

A report by AFP revealed how Syrians were transformed into mercenaries in Erdogan’s proxy war in Azerbaijan, as Abu Ahmed, who is part of a Syrian faction loyal to Ankara, said he was told to go to Azerbaijan to fight alongside its forces in exchange for a salary equivalent to eighty times what he earns in northwestern Syria, while he hopes that he will be able to secure sustenance for his family that has been displaced by the war.

“I registered my name more than a week ago to go to Azerbaijan… in exchange for a salary of $2,000 a month for a period of three months,” the 26-year-old told AFP, using a pseudonym on WhatsApp for fear of revealing his identity.

Abu Ahmed, who has been a fighter for five years, registered his name on a list prepared by a leader in a Syrian faction loyal to Ankara, similar to many others, after announcing the need for militants to head to Azerbaijan via Turkey.

Ankara is supporting the Azerbaijani army in the bloody confrontations that broke out nearly a week ago in Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenian separatists, which aroused widespread international condemnation and accusations that Turkey had sent Syrian fighters.

AFP was able to communicate through WhatsApp with one of the fighters from the northern Syrian city of Atarib who is on the battlefront in Azerbaijan. “Yes, I am in Azerbaijan,” he said in a brief comment, apologizing for not providing more details.

AFP learned from a local source in the city that this militant was among a group who went to Azerbaijan last month. It was announced two days ago that the group’s leader, Mohammed al-Shaalan, was killed during the confrontations in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In one of the camps for the displaced in northern Syria, where he has been staying with his wife for several months, Abu Ahmed said, “I am waiting for my turn to go to Azerbaijan in order to save money and return to open a business here.”

“After the displacement, we lost our villages and homes and we had nothing left to eat,” he added.

For years, Abu Ahmed fought in and around Idlib, which was one of the last strongholds of the factions opposed to the Syrian regime forces, and he moved from one front to another. However, hostilities have stopped since March with the implementation of a ceasefire announced by Ankara, which supports the factions, and Moscow, an ally of Damascus, after a widespread attack by the regime forces that caused the displacement of about one million Syrians.

No trick

With the cessation of the battles and the decline of Turkish support for the factions amid difficult living conditions, Abu Ahmed’s income gradually decreased until his last salary was just $25, so he decided to go to Azerbaijan, although he knew nothing about the nature of the fighting there, hoping only for “financial temptations.”

“I will fight and regain control of my village much better than Azerbaijan,” he explained, “but it may take two or three years for the situation to remain calm as a result of the Russian-Turkish agreement.”

Abu Ahmed realizes that his choice is fraught with dangers, especially with the reported deaths of fighters, but he said, “We have no trick”, as “we are ready to sacrifice ourselves in order to secure the expenses of our children, because our conditions are very poor.”

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, hundreds of Syrian fighters are preparing to go to Azerbaijan in the coming days through private Turkish security companies that will transport them. This comes after more than 800 fighters already arrived from northern and northwestern Syria during the last ten days.

The Observatory counted the deaths of at least more than seventy Syrian fighters in Azerbaijan since the start of the confrontations. AFP was able to verify that the families of at least three of them had been informed of their deaths.

On Friday, social media users in northern Syria shared pictures of four fighters who supposedly had died in the fighting.

Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman told AFP that the fighters received promises of salaries ranging from $1,500 to $2,000, and most of them belong to pro-Ankara Syrian factions.

He explained that the first group was informed that “”heir role would be limited to protecting the oil fields and borders in Azerbaijan” before the outbreak of confrontations.

Armenia, which is part of a military alliance of former Soviet republics led by Moscow, accused Turkey of sending mercenaries from northern Syria to support the Azerbaijani forces.

Moscow indicated that fighters from Syria and Libya were deployed in the conflict zone. This was denied by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense, which in turn accused Armenia of deploying mercenaries. There has been no official comment from Turkey yet regarding the accusations.

In recent months, Ankara has similarly sent thousands of fighters from its areas of influence in Syria to Libya in support of the Government of National Accord (GNA), which sparked widespread international condemnation.

Abu Adnan, 38, had previously indicated his willingness to go to Libya, but now he is waiting to be transferred to the Azerbaijani borders.

The fighter, who preferred to use a pseudonym for fear of revealing his identity, told AFP, “It was not our turn to go to Libya, so they told us to prepare to go to Azerbaijan.”

In 2017, Abu Adnan had arrived in Idlib governorate as a displaced person, and then he participated in the fighting with an opposition faction supported by Turkey in Idlib, moving with his family from one town to another before reaching a displacement camp.

It is no secret that the economic factor played a major role in his decision to fight outside Syria. “Here, we are paid 200 Turkish liras (about $25), which is not enough for me to buy bread,” he said, adding that he expects to receive $1,500 by going to Azerbaijan.

However, the financial incentive is not the only influence. “We stand with our ally, Turkey, because it has stood with us against Russia and is fighting for the Syrian cause, and we must stand with it at all times,” he explained.

“If Turkey loses any battle, this will put pressure on it, and it will be forced to hand over our regions to the regime,” he said, adding that they then would never be able to return to their homes.

In a related context, Al-Jazeera has inadvertently revealed more evidence of the presence of Turkish soldiers in Azerbaijan, specifically in the city of Ganja, where Turkish F-16s and drones are stationed that target Artsakh. The Qatari network broadcast a scene of its correspondent there, who appeared behind Syrian soldiers