By RFIPosted on 11-01-2020Modified on 11-01-2020 at 04:45

Over a thousand Syrian fighters have been sent by Turkey to Libya to fight Marshal Haftar. Several sources claim that in exchange for their participation in the fighting, these Syrian mercenaries will have Turkish nationality. According to the OSDH, nearly 2,300 Syrians are waiting their turn to go and fight alongside the Islamist forces of the government of national unity in Tripoli.

Some have to wait to get Turkish nationality, others get it right away. This is the case of the heads of the "free Syrian army" who receive their sesame before their transfer to Libya . In a video circulating on social networks, a man speaking in Syrian without appearing in the image shows his freshly supplied Turkish identity card. In the background, the Ghaziantep logo appears, the city where the Turkish authorities gather the candidates for departure to Libya.

According to several sources working on the file such as Elizabeth Tsurkov, researcher at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, as well as Osama Abderrahmane, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) and civil society actors in Syria, all contacted by RFI, the fate of ordinary soldiers is more complicated. They must fight for 6 months before acquiring this right. If they die, their families will receive $ 30,000 in compensation.

In addition, the OSDH, as well as Syrian Kurdish parties, revealed that Turkey released dozens of prisoners belonging to the Islamic State organization and to various jihadist groups in the areas under its control in Syria, to send them to Tripoli.

The OSDH estimates that 1,260 Syrians have already been transferred to Libya. Nearly 2,300 await their turn to go and fight alongside the Islamist forces of the government of national unity.

■ The EU wants to act quickly

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 28 countries of the European Union were gathered this Friday in Brussels to discuss in particular the Libyan question. We must act before it is too late, says the head of European diplomacy.

With our Brussels office

The situation in Libya is worrying: for the head of European diplomacy, several risks must be taken into account.

" These risks are increasing," says Josep Borrell. First there is the terrorist risk. We see that more and more fighters arrive from Syria, but also from Sudan. "

Second risk for the European Union according to the high representative of diplomacy, migration: 700,000 migrants may want to leave Libya: “ They do not all want to come to Europe. But depending on the situation there, they will want to leave! "

Josep Borrell hopes that a cease-fire can indeed be applied. In this case, the European Union will have a role to play: “ We will have to supervise this cease-fire and control the arms embargo. "

None of the diplomatic steps to impose a cease-fire in Libya have so far had the expected result.

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