The American journalist, specialized in covering humanitarian crises and conflicts, Lindsay Snell has revealed new details about the Turkish president’s relationship with terrorist organizations, and Erdogan’s goal of sending mercenaries to Libya.
Snell was a guest on “Leblad” program on 218News in Tuesday. She said Erdogan had been supporting Al-Qaeda in Syria since the beginning, providing Free Syrian Army with weapons.
She added that she spoke to people who received the weapons from Free Syrian Army personnel that carried weapons across the Turkish border, where there is agreement that they transfer the weapons to a city and leave some there. They were leaving some ammunition, and some weapons for Jabhat al-Nusra to take.
Snell explained that Turkey was in this way supporting the armed organizations, and it has become more clear recently, although Jabhat al-Nusra changed its name twice and claimed that it separated from al-Qaeda in 2016, but it is still actually classified as a terrorist organization in many countries, Including Turkey.
The American journalist said that there are innumerable Ahrar al-Sham videos showimg them in Turkish vehicles and tanks with Turkish weapons alongside the Turkish military, and stressed that Erdogan continues to support them, adding that even on the same day that some of these videos appeared, Erdogan said that he pledged to fight them and use force against them if necessary, but Erdogan’s statements were really allegations and a farce.
Sending mercenaries to Libya
Regarding sending mercenaries to Libya, the American journalist said that Ankara will continue to send mercenaries, confirming that it has received information and photographs of a group of 175 individuals who arrived in Tripoli.
She added that the information indicates that 360 mercenaries will follow them in the coming days due to the recent loss of lives in the western districts of Aleppo.
“There is a flood of members of the opposition group, not just the Free Syrian Army, but also Ahrar al-Sham who have been displaced from parts of Idlib and in the western countryside of Aleppo, and they have nowhere to go. Some of them have joined other groups of the Free Syrian Army, but many will be sent to Libya. So they wait until it is their turn to go on a plane and come here to Libya. ” Snell added.
Funding Mercenaries
Snell confirmed that “the Government of National Accord is paying the price for Erdogan’s adventure in Libya. All Syrian mercenaries sent to Libya are paid for. And there is a salary that ranges between 2000 and 3000 dollars a month. All of this comes out of the pocket of the Libyan people.”
She also indicated that mercenaries’ salaries are paid even when Al-Sarraj failed to pay the salaries of the Libyan militias, who later attacked his office. She noted that there are multiple reports of civil personnel in Tripoli who did not receive their salaries while the mercenaries receive two or three thousand dollars per month, and saw that the Government of National Accord had shifted its priorities to financing the Syrian mercenaries and the Turkish army.
Mercenaries’ way of thinking
The American journalist explained that many Syrian mercenaries are in a situation in which they lost their homes, live in the western countryside of Aleppo and have nowhere to go.
“If they move to Syria, they will get only $100 a month, and then their Turkish leader comes and says, well, you can get $3000 a month if you go to Libya, they really don’t see any other choice.” Snell explained.
She added that this is a way for them to rebuild their lives, saying that they told her this was the reason they went to Libya, as they know they are mercenaries but they have nothing in Syria they have no choice. They do not care.
She pointed out that some young mercenaries think differently, as Turkish leaders were telling them that they were going to fight the Russians, and they believed this story, explaining that Turkey would tell them anything to get them to go and fight in Libya.
