Syrian opposition officially denies sending fighters to Libya, despite Turkish and opposition claims to the contrary
ISTANBUL, Turkey (North Press) – Officials in the Turkish-backed Syrian opposition coalition known as the Syrian National Army continue to deny that Turkey sends fighters to Libya in order to fight alongside troops affiliated with the Government of National Accord, even though Syrian, Libyan, and Turkish opposition sources have repeatedly made claims to the contrary.
The civil war in Libya began in 2014 between two rival factions – the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR), which is militarily supported by the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and the UN-recognized, Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Prime Minister Fayad al-Sarraj.
Colonel Ismail Ayoub, a Syrian opposition member, told North Press that “every Syrian fighter who travels to Libya or other country in order to fight is a mercenary.”
He expressed his deep regret that a number of Syrian National Army’s fighters travelled to Libya to fight in cooperation with Turkey instead of fighting in Syria.
Ayoub stressed that sending fighters to Libya is no longer a hidden practice, and Turkey sent about 3,000 fighters to Libya, including fighters from the Syrian National Army. The fighters recieved a salary; some returned and others stayed there.
Youssef Hamod, the official spokesman of the Syrian National Army, said on Wednesday that so far none of their fighters have travelled to fight in Libya, and those who did were not affiliated with the the National Army.
The National Army repeatedly denies sending its fighters to Libya for money that Turkey pays for in return.
Last month, the Pentagon mentioned that “Turkey sent about 4,000 Syrian mercenaries to Libya at the beginning of the year, while 300 fighters arrived to Libya in April.”
In a statement about counterterrorism operations in Africa, the Pentagon added that Turkey offered money and Turkish citizenship to thousands of fighters to participate in the Libyan conflict on the side of the GNA.
Regarding the opposition officials’ denial, Ayoub said, “Turkey and all media does not deny this; even an opposition official from Idlib said on a TV channel that they owe Libya, so they will fight with the Sarraj government.”
In a press statement, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in February that there were fighters from the Syrian National Army with Turkish trainers, and also he confessed that a number of Turkish soldiers were killed in Libya.
Moreover, Erdogan said, “We went to Libya accompanied by fighters from the Syrian National Army; we are still fighting, while a number of Turkish fighters were killed.”
This contradiction between Erdogan announcement’s denial of sending fighters to Libya and and the National Army’s officials denial raised a big argument among Syrian activists and even among the Turkish opposition itself.
Libyan sources stressed that Turkey sent Syrian mercenaries in order to fight in Libya, where some of them were arrested. Some Syrian activists posted video footage showing the Libyan Army arresting Syrian fighters, who confessed that Turkey sent them in order to fight with the GNA.