Syrian hirelings in Libya protesting against overdue salaries

Mustafa Kamel

There is anger among the foreign mercenaries brought by Turkey into Libya to aid the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).

The anger boils down to the failure of the Turkish government and the GNA to pay the mercenaries their salaries for five months now.

A video leaked out of the Police Academy in Tripoli showed Syrian mercenaries complaining against the failure of the Turkish government to pay them their salaries.

Turkey had to pull back some of the mercenaries apparently because of the lack of financial resources for their salaries.

Mercenaries’ change of heart

Dozens of pro-Ankara hirelings staged a protest earlier this week inside the Police Academy in Tripoli against the failure of the Turkish government to pay them their salaries for five months now.

Each of the hirelings participating in the protest said he had an accumulated overdue salary of $10,000.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the presence of a financial crisis behind the anger of the Syrian mercenaries in Libya.

The mercenaries, it said, expected to return to their country after Libyan reach a settlement to the conflict in their country.

There will be rising anger among the mercenaries in the coming period, the observatory said.

Back to Istanbul

The Turkish government returned some of the mercenaries it sent to Libya against the background of the financial crisis.

A Turkish Airlines plane took off from Mitiga Airport with dozens of Syrian mercenaries on board and flew back to Turkey.

This came after the mercenaries staged protests inside the Police Academy in Tripoli.