Turkey to transfer Syrian mercenaries from Libya to Afghanistan
Turkey has transferred tens of thousands of Syrian mercenaries to western Libya since it announced its intention to intervene militarily in Libya in December 2019 under a security agreement it signed with the outgoing government of reconciliation.
The Turkish government has also sent Syrian fighters to Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region between Armenia and Azerbaijan, to fight alongside Azerbaijani forces.
Sources told Libya Review that Turkey now intends, in coordination with Qatar, to transfer Syrian fighters loyal to Azerbaijan and Libya to Afghanistan.
The sources said that Turkey’s move to transfer mercenaries from Libya and Azerbaijan to Afghanistan is supported by a change in Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East.
According to Libya Review, these moves confirmed that these moves indicate that Turkey is starting to retreat from the provocative roles it was playing in a number of regional countries, especially Libya, after international demands for the expulsion of foreign fighters increased.
On October 8, the Joint Military Commission 5+5 signed a comprehensive action plan, which it described as the cornerstone of a gradual, balanced, and sequenced process of withdrawal of mercenaries, foreign fighters, and foreign forces from Libyan territory.
Following the announcement of this plan, the UN Secretary-General called on all Libyan and international parties to work towards the implementation of the plan to withdraw mercenaries and foreign fighters from Libya.
France, Germany, Britain, the United States and Italy have supported the Libyan Joint Military Commission in implementing its comprehensive action plan for the withdrawal of mercenaries, foreign fighters, and foreign forces from Libyan territory.
The international and regional calls for removing mercenaries from Libya have put Turkey in a dilemma. This prompted her to go directly to coordinate efforts with her ally Qatar to get the mercenaries out of Libya.
Turkey and Qatar are working very hard to manage and operate Kabul airport to enable them to transfer Syrians from Libya and Azerbaijan to Afghanistan.
