Syrian presence in Azerbaijan | Turkey determined to turn Syrians into mercenaries as it has done in Libya

It seems that Turkey is accustomed now to involvement in proxy wars, allowing it  to minimize its human and material losses, while at the same time maximizing its gains and  and achieving strategic objectives. This is the second time that Ankara resorts to exploiting the Syrians in futile wars.

After turning its Syrian proxy fighters into mercenaries in Libya under the pretext of fighting Russia, once again Turkey is recruiting Syrian fighters to join the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which broke out in 1992, just after the end of the Soviet era.

In this context, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented and confirmed, since early October 2020, the presence of a number of Syrian mercenaries fighting in “Karabakh” despite the denial of the Azerbaijani side regarding their presence in the disputed territory between Baku and Yerevan.

The number of Syrian mercenaries has reached at least 1,450, of whom some 119 have been killed in military operations in the region and bodies of 78  have arrived in Syria, while the rest of the bodies remained in Azerbaijan; and on October 11 , 2020, the Syrian Observatory managed to obtain video footage showing “al-Sultan Murad” faction in parts of the “Karabakh” region.

Steps and methods of recruiting Syrian mercenaries and sending them to Azerbaijan:

Young Syrians are being lured and recruited by special recruitment centres supported by Turkish intelligence or through the leaders of Turkish-backed factions in northern and north-western Syria in Turkish-backed areas. Through playing  on emotions, issuing fatwas, and using  religious sentiments and religion to brainwash them, Turkey makes the first step of luring and recruiting gullible young Syrians..

A representative of the “National Army” had issued a fatwa classifying  the fighting in Azerbaijan as  Jihad (collective duty in Islam), regardless of whether the fight is alongside a Shi’ite community, as it is the case with the majority of Azeri muslims who are Shi’ites. It is worth noting most of the Turkish-backed factions are Sunnis hardliners who tend to think unfavourably of Shia’a Islam.      

Additionally, financial incentives are also provided to Syrian mercenaries, with a salary between $1,500 and $2,000.

The potential recruits are also told and persuaded that they will not be involved in hostilities, and their mission will be confined to “protecting the Azerbaijani oil fields”, which are linked to contracts with the Turkish side.

Mercenaries are being transported from Syria to Turkey and then to Azerbaijan by air within conflict zones and battlefields by private Turkish security companies.

There are many motives and factors behind Turkey’s recruitment and transfer of Syrian mercenaries to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, most prominent of which are the following:

• The fact that Turkey could exploit the deteriorating economy and prevalent of unemployment in Syria.

• Turkey’s desire to protect its economic interests in Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, especially oil and gas.

• Turkey has also exploited the “Russian support to Armenia” in order to incite the Syrian mercenaries’ hatred, spurring them to engage in the fight in Nagorno-Karabakh and side only with Turkish-Azerbaijani troops in an attempt to retaliate against Moscow and exert further pressure on it to negotiate Syria’s issues.

• “Erdogan’s” concern to contain internal criticism which potentially can have an impact on his popularity inside Turkey, with many Turks accusing “Erdogan” of “depleting the Turkish military forces and throwing Turkish soldiers into operations beyond Turkey’s border in vain”. Such involvements have inflicted great losses on Turkish forces, like what happened in Syria when large number of Turkish soldiers were killed, especially since the war in Azerbaijan seems to have “guerrilla-style” attacks. Such clashes do not require the involvement of national armies and are not suitable for the militaries’ rules and techniques, but they perfectly suit mercenaries.

• Ankara has also sought to exploit the Turkmen factions in Syria, where Turkish intelligence trains and directly controlls them. It is worth noting that the Turkmen factions are the most loyal groups to the Turkish government and the joint national ties have facilitated the recruitment of large number of mercenaries of  these factions.

Despite all these factors, the Turkish government and its intelligence face challenges to recruit many fighters intended to be thrown into Azerbaijan conflict, as many factions refuse to fight there for several reasons, mostly notably  “sectarianism”.

We, at the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, renew our appeals to the international community and all relevant bodies to work diligently to stop Turkey from exploiting the crisis in Syrian and the Syrian youth’s deteriorating living conditions and turning them into mercenaries serving Turkey’s narrow interests in and outside Syria.