Erdogan’s mercenaries in Libya discontent over delay in receiving financial dues

Fatima Abdul Ghani

Day after day, discontent rises among the ranks of the armed militias loyal to Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA), amid growing concern about its fate and its future, against the backdrop of Tripoli’s increasing dependence on Syrian mercenaries.

Libyan activists published a video clip showing protests in which dozens of Syrian mercenaries took part, who demonstrated in a camp inside the Police College in the Libyan capital for not having received their financial dues that the GNA promised to pay them after the agreement with the Turkish side to transfer them to Tripoli. Libyan media reported that the mercenaries’ late dues amounted to about $10,000 dollars per person.

In this context, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed in a report published on Friday, January 1, the feelings of resentment that prevailed among the pro-Ankara mercenaries who were sent by Turkey to Libya.

According to sources at the Syrian Observatory, the leaders of the factions such as the Hamza Division, Suleyman Shah Division, the Levant Front, and the Mu’tasim Brigade are stalling the delivery of the salaries of the fighters. Also, sums of money are deducted from their monthly salary, ranging from $100-$300, in addition to trading their salaries, which is one of the most important reasons for delaying delivery, amid the fighters’ demands for the Turks to hand over their salaries directly instead of delivery through the leaders.

For his part, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul Rahman, revealed the details of the “financial crisis” that the mercenary fighters are suffering from.

Abdul Rahman said, in televised statements, that about 7,000 mercenaries have remained in Libya so far, adding, “They should receive monthly salaries ranging between $2,000 and $3,000.”

“The delay in salaries made the mercenaries in a state of great dissatisfaction, especially after they were waiting to return to their country, Syria, after the Libyan-Libyan accord,” he continued.

“They are in a difficult situation. They are deducted from their salaries, and the salaries do not reach the families of these people until late, and they are traded by mercenary leaders in the currency speculation market,” he added.

Abdul Rahman asked why the process of returning mercenaries to Syria had stopped since November, adding, “We do not know why Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has kept them until this moment in Libya.”

“Without any doubt, there will be a rebellion among these mercenaries, and they may be arrested and put in prisons,” he said.

The Syrian Observatory had indicated a few days ago that the issue of the presence of pro-Ankara mercenaries in Libya was returning to the fore, especially in light of the suspension of the file by the Turkish government, which turned the fighters into mercenaries and sent them there despite the Libyan-Libyan agreement. The return of the factions’ fighters from Libya to Syria is still on hold for 43 days, specifically from the middle of November, amid news of the return of batches of them at the beginning of 2021, while no information has been received until the moment about the reasons for their stay there.

The Observatory stated that the number of conscripts who went to Libya so far reached about 18,000 mercenaries of Syrian nationality, including 350 children under the age of 18, and about 10,750 of the mercenaries of the pro-Turkish factions returned to Syria after the end of their contracts and taking their financial dues, while the number of jihadists who arrived in Libya reached 10,000, among them 2,500 of Tunisian nationality.

It is also reported that the death toll of the mercenaries of the Syrian factions loyal to Ankara in Libya amounted to 496 dead.

In a related development, Turkey continued to transfer military equipment and weapons to the Al-Watiya air base in Libya in preparation for the joint exercises that Ankara intends to conduct with the GNA, while a Libyan military source confirmed that two military cargo planes from Turkey transported ammunition and weapons to Al-Watiya, amid UN calls for the formation of an international monitoring committee to support the “fragile truce” in Libya.

The Libyan source said in exclusive statements to the Emirati newspaper Al-Ittihad that the planes carry advanced air defense systems, jamming systems and radar, indicating that a number of Turkish army elements participating in the exercises with the GNA arrived at the air base.

The source indicated that Turkey is seeking to consolidate its military presence in the cities of the western region, warning of the mobilization operations carried out by Ankara, which could push towards the collapse of the ceasefire agreement and the renewal of fighting.

Moreover, with the extension of its parliament, Turkey has intensified the stay of Turkish forces in Libya for an additional 18 months of operating the Turkish air bridge flights between Turkey and its bases in Al-Watiya and Misrata.

In this context, observers stressed the existence of a Turkish plan to push for a new war in Libya, noting that Erdogan regime believes that chaos is the only way to cover up his crimes in Libya. Observers also pointed out that the sabotage role played by Erdogan is the main reason for the failure of the parties to reach a political solution that guarantees the security and stability of the country.