Jihadis Are Becoming Turkey’s Permanent Proxy Force

 

Source: BESA

April 1 2021

By Burak Bekdil

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Turkey, a member of NATO, now effectively has a jihadi proxy force that it has deployed in its Syrian homeland as well as in faraway war theaters like Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh.

An assortment of jihadi groups holed up in northern Syria under Turkey’s protection are becoming the permanent proxy force of the new Ottomans.

This looks like a marriage made in heaven. Turkey and the jihadis share an ideological and sectarian bond and have common goals. There is money and logistical support, as well as geographical proximity. They share a taste for adventurism in faraway lands, particularly in the service of what they consider a holy cause.

The 27th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted to the UN Security Council concerning ISIL (Islamic State), al-Qaeda, and associated individuals and entities concludes that Iraq and Syria remain the core area for ISIL, with the Idlib area, where Al-Qaeda also has affiliates, a particular source of concern.

”The Idlib area” refers to Syria’s northwestern tip neighboring Turkey, the last rebel stronghold in the war-torn country. Idlib has become a de facto Turkish province. The Turkish lira is the medium of exchange, and Turkish government agencies provide services like education, housing, and preserving public safety. Since early 2020, the Turkish military has been controlling the area under the pretext of protecting Turkish observation posts from a Syrian military offensive and creating a safe zone for displaced persons.

The UNSC report said:


The Idlib de-escalation zone remains important to ISIL as a limited safe haven. Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) regularly arrests ISIL fighters. However, some ISIL leaders continue to reside in the region and it is a target destination for many former ISIL fighters and families as the safest gateway into Turkey.

HTS is still the dominant militant group in the northwest of the Syrian Arab Republic, with approximately 10,000 fighters, most of them Syrian. HTS seeks further to consolidate its control of the Idlib de-escalation zone and applies pressure on local leaders to accept the group’s authority, ensuring that the population complies with its version of sharia law.

In addition to taxation of local businesses, HTS maintains a monopoly over the import and distribution of gasoline and diesel fuel…The group’s earnings from trading fuel and energy are estimated at approximately $1 million monthly. HTS is also reported to control distribution of humanitarian aid through an entity known as Maktab Sho’oun Al-Munathamat (the Bureau of Organization Affairs), which limits direct distribution of goods to the local population by humanitarian organizations. It also confiscates portions of these goods to reinforce HTS patronage networks.

The other major Al-Qaeda affiliate in the Idlib area is Hurras al-Din (HAD), with between 2,000 and 2,500 fighters. It was weakened by a significant number of leadership losses in 2020 and is overshadowed by HTS, with which it competes for recruits and reputation among the local population.

The Idlib area continues to harbour other terrorist groups composed mainly of contingents of foreign terrorist fighters who remain subject to the authority of HTS. These groups include the Khattab Al-Shishani Brigade (Chechen fighters), Katiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (KTJ, Central Asian fighters) and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), also known as the Turkistan Islamic Party. The latter is reportedly composed of 3,000 to 4,500 members.

That was Idlib at the end of 2020. The umbrella militant group for the jihadi groups is the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Turkey’s official ally and combat force in Syria, which in 2019 reflagged itself as the Syrian National Army (SNA). The SNA has been trained and equipped by the Turkish military since 2016.

Turkish loyalists of Sunni Arab origin have been accused of wreaking havoc in northern Syria, displacing hundreds of thousands, and committing alleged war crimes on a daily basis. The Ankara-commanded proxy militias bear most of the blame for many of the reported atrocities that have affected local Kurds, including executions, kidnappings, rapes, looting, and other crimes.

Apparently, the self-styled SNA, FSA’s new brand of jihadists, followed suit. According to an October 15, 2019 report, Turkey’s extremist proxies “vowed to kill ‘pigs’ and ‘infidels,’ paraded their Kurdish captives in front of cameras and, in one graphic video, fired several rounds into a man lying on the side of a highway with his hands bound behind his back.”

With over 200,000 displaced according to UN figures, many refugees are claiming that the Turkish forces are planning to flush the Kurds out of the settlements and replace them with Arabs loyal to Ankara. They have also been fighting Syrian Kurdish militias, Turkey’s principal military target. That’s unusual notoriety for the proxy ally of a NATO member state.

According to a December 31, 2012 article in Huffington Post:


[The FSA] has in the recent past stolen wheat reserves intended for the residents of Aleppo and sold it to private Turkish grain traders, expropriated stocks of pharmaceuticals and forcibly resold them back to its owners, and ransacked schools…

In the outskirts of Aleppo, the FSA has implemented a Sharia law enforcement police force that is a replica of the Wahhabi police in Saudi Arabia—forcing ordinary citizens to abide by the Sharia code…

Lebanese newspapers such as Al-Akhbar and Assafir, and Alex Jones’ infowars.com, have broadcast a disturbing video of a 12-year-old child apparently forced by the FSA to cut off the head of a Syrian military officer…

The FSA has also been targeting the infrastructure of the country. One of the main power plants in Damascus was knocked out for three days last week, impacting 40 percent of the city’s residents.

Amnesty International compiled evidence of war crimes committed by Turkish forces and Turkish-backed Syrian armed groups during the offensive. It reports, based on witness testimony from October 12-16, 2019, on “how Turkish forces have displayed a disregard for civilian life, including through summary killings and unlawful attacks that have killed and injured civilians…The information provides damning evidence of indiscriminate attacks in residential areas—including attacks on a home, a bakery and a school—carried out by Turkey and allied Syrian armed groups.”

As Turkey’s neo-Ottoman ambitions pushed the country into Libya’s civil war, Ankara deployed its semi-official proxy army into that new war zone. According to the Pentagon’s inspector general, Turkey sent between 3,500 and 3,800 paid Syrian fighters to Libya over the first three months of 2020. That was the Defense Department’s first report detailing Turkish deployments that aimed to change the course of Libya’s war. The quarterly report on counterterrorism operations in Africa by the Pentagon’s internal watchdog said Turkey paid and offered citizenship to thousands of mercenaries fighting alongside Tripoli-based militias against troops of east Libya-based commander Khalifa Hafter.

Later in 2020, Turkey would deploy its jihadi allies in a conflict raging far from its own borders in a land many had barely heard of a few months earlier. In October, the bodies of more than 50 Syrians killed in the Azeri-Armenian war were returned home for funeral preparations. They were members of militias that had fought on Turkey’s behalf in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Once again, President Erdoğan was the first world leader to jump into the fray when a long-simmering conflict in the south Caucasus burst into open warfare. Turkey also supplied weapons, especially armed drones, as well as training to Azerbaijan.

According to a report by Observer Research Foundation, fighters from Syria are an amalgamation of circumstances and ground realities.

“Many who are finding their way into other conflict theaters such as Libya or now Azerbaijan don’t necessarily come from the same backgrounds of militants, militias, Islamists and so on. While the ones fighting on Turkey’s behalf in Libya most likely are hardened militias who see Turkish President Recep Erdoğan’s self-styled Sunni-power leader image as palatable, and do so in support of Ankara’s regional geopolitical maneuvers,” the report said. But the fighters in Azerbaijan, reportedly hired by private contractors, were largely people who suffered economic destitution back home and saw the alien war theater as a paying job.

“Despite the time it took and the cost that Turkey has incurred, decision makers in Ankara have grown increasingly amenable to the use of proxies, prompting a change in psychology and perception that represents a significant departure from Turkey’s historic policy of relying on conventional forces,” said Osman Sert, research director at the Ankara Institute. “Proxies are now perceived as being a critical component of Turkey’s regional security interests, and no longer simply a measure that could be indirectly operationalized through other proxy sponsors in the region.”

Obama’s Ukraine policy in shambles

U.S. President Barack Obama during a summit at the White House | Drew Angerer/Getty

Πηγή: Politico
By MICHAEL CROWLEY
29 Feb 2016

Distracted by ISIL, frustrated by infighting in Kyiv, the administration makes little progress against Putin in Europe.
President Barack Obama’s effort to rescue Ukraine from Russia’s military grip has stalled, and turmoil inside Ukraine’s government may hand Russian President Vladimir Putin a victory in a conflict that Obama has said involves “the most basic principles of our international system.”

Two years after the pro-western protests that toppled Kyiv’s government, enraged Putin, and caused an international crisis, Obama’s Ukraine policy is foundering — the victim of Putin’s steely determination, the distractions of Syria and ISIL, and wavering support from European allies eager to move past the conflict.

Despite personal pleas from Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. officials fear that Kyiv’s leaders are near a political implosion that would derail efforts to stabilize the country and eject Russia from its eastern territories.

“Syria has really taken the focus off of Ukraine. It feels to me like its going to be difficult for Europe to stay together and continue to pressure Russia with sanctions,” the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker, told POLITICO. “At some point you’re going to have a frozen conflict that’s very much to Putin’s advantage.”

Critics like Corker say that Obama’s actions have failed to live up to his rhetoric, which casts Russia’s presence in Ukraine as a grave threat to European security. Obama has rejected calls from several top advisers to provide Ukraine with weapons to fight off Moscow-backed separatists.

“Putin has paid no price,” Corker said, adding that European leaders have told him Putin says “there is just no push back” from the U.S.

Nonetheless, the U.S. and Europe have imposed several rounds of economic sanctions on Moscow, and in recent months Obama has beefed up America’s military presence on NATO’s eastern flank.

But even as he warily partners with Putin on a cease-fire for Syria, Obama has not shaken the Russian leader’s support for the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed nearly 10,000 people and stunted the country’s political and economic progress. After a lull in violence, combat has spiked in recent weeks to the highest levels since last summer.

“Nothing has happened to suggest that the Russians are any more willing to give us control of Ukraine than they were before,” said Ivo Daalder, Obama’s first ambassador to NATO and now President of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “In some ways, Syria became a distraction for us because it led us to work with Russia to try to address the Syrian crisis and to ignore what’s happening in Ukraine.”

Obama officials insist that the core of their strategy — implementing a February 2015 peace accord signed in Minsk that calls for Russia to withdraw forces from the country’s east — is still on track.

“We are pressing hard to see Minsk fully implemented by the time the president leaves office,” said a senior administration official, referring to the pact brokered by France and Germany and signed by Ukraine and Russia. “We’re aiming for implementation during the second half of 2016.”

Protesters clash behind burning barricades during the face off against heavily-armed police on February 20, 2014 in Kiev | Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty

Under the Minsk deal, Moscow must withdraw forces from eastern Ukraine and end its support for separatists; Kyiv must allow elections and greater autonomy for the country’s relatively pro-Russian east; and the U.S. and Europe will lift sanctions on Moscow.

Privately, U.S. officials concede that a government collapse could make implementing the Minsk accord — something that was supposed to happen by the end of 2015 — all but impossible, at least before Obama departs the White House.

“The worst thing that could happen right now is for the government to collapse and to have new elections,” said a second senior administration official, “because everything will spin into chaos, and the whole system will get locked up.”

That was Biden’s concern when he flew to Kyiv in early December. In an address to parliament, Biden urged Ukraine’s government to remain focused on political unity and reform in the face of Putin’s intimidation.

“It is no exaggeration to say that the hopes of freedom-loving people the world over are with you because so much rides on your fragile experiment with democracy succeeding,” Biden said. “It may be your last moment.”

Biden had barely departed when, two days later, the country’s beleaguered prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenuk addressed the same parliament. As he spoke at the podium, a rival member threw his arms around him and carried him off like a mannequin, touching off a wild brawl.

The government nearly fell earlier this month when Yatsenuk, who enjoys a single-digits approval rating, narrowly survived a no confidence vote in parliament. Ukraine’s President, Petro Poroshenko, has called for Yatsenuk’s resignation, but Poroshenko is barely more popular, and faces charges he has done too little to combat rampant corruption.

Biden has been conducting damage control from Washington. The vice president, who has visited Ukraine four times since 2014 and says he’s logged “close to a thousand hours on the telephone” with its leaders, has placed several more calls to Yatsenuk and Poroshenko this month.

Russia has gleefully exploited the political disarray, casting Ukraine’s leadership as unable or unwilling to take the political steps required by the Minsk deal.

“Our Ukrainian friends aren’t doing their share,” Moscow’s ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak, said in a recent interview. Russia wants the Ukrainians to move first on steps like amending the country’s constitution to grant more autonomy to the east.

U.S. officials are adamant that Moscow is mainly to blame for the stalemate, saying that Kyiv can’t be expected to move first when a portion of their country is a combat zone stoked by Russia.

But even some Western officials concede that the Russians have a partial point.

“The implementation of Minsk now is more or less frozen,” said a European diplomat. “Unfortunately, the Ukrainians are now actually carrying a big part of the responsibility of the blockage, because of the crisis in Kyiv.”

Such talk from Europe is ominous given the pressure European leaders are facing to end sanctions on Moscow, which have slowed their economies and cost their businesses profits.

Despite the occasional fistfight, U.S. officials insist things in the capital are not quite as bad as they appear. Ukraine’s parliament has passed some significant reform measures in recent months. Poroshenko recently fired the country’s prosecutor general, whom the U.S. saw as a major obstacle to battling Kyiv’s endemic corruption.

“It’s not necessarily pretty to watch,” said one Western diplomat, arguing that “rooting out the vestiges of the old Soviet state” was never going to be easy — particularly amid “a concerted effort from their big neighbor to see that the reform project fails,” he added.

That “big neighbor” is Russia, where Putin has worked to thwart Ukraine’s political progress — including through the use of organized crime, according to Western officials.

And although Putin dialed down the violence in Ukraine’s east last fall, Obama officials have been alarmed by a recent spike in fighting there. It remains unclear whether Putin is escalating the conflict, officials say, or if the separatists might be acting on their own.

U.S. officials say that until Putin stands down in the east, Kyiv will be hard-pressed to pass the political reforms required by Minsk. The problem was illustrated when the parliament considered a measure granting limited autonomy for separatist-controlled areas last summer; violent protests broke out in Kyiv, leaving several people dead.

“Minsk is now in tatters. Western attention at the highest level is gone due to the migration crisis and the Obama administration’s priorities lying elsewhere,” said Andrew Weiss, a former Clinton White House national security aide now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The whole thing just looks really messy.”

“The Russian bet here is that we have ADD, won’t be able to keep the sanctions regime together, and will find other stuff to worry about,” Weiss added.

The second administration official said the U.S. would remain focused on Ukraine, but that resolving the crisis could be impossible so long as its parliament looks like a fight club.

“Our message is, you have to have a government that functions. You can’t have disarray” the official said. “Otherwise, support from the international community is going to evaporate. So that’s the main point: ‘You guys have got to figure this out.'”

Lawless Libya: Western Governments Will Be Forced to Look Back

Πηγή: sputniknews
28 Oct 2015


Further violence has erupted in Libya after a helicopter carrying Islamist military commanders was shot down by rival armed factions. All 19 passengers on board died, triggering clashes between Libya Dawn, an Islamist group of the coalition forces that runs Tripoli and a rival tribe known as Warshefana.

The North African country is gripped in a civil war between the internationally recognized Libyan government, forced to operate from Tobruk on the eastern border with Egypt and its rival self-styled government in Tripoli, which is run by Libya Dawn, the dominant Islamist group of a coalition of forces.

Libya Dawn has blamed the attack on rival forces loyal to the official Libyan army and pointed the finger at the "so-called Tribes Army, allies with the remnants of the [Gaddafi] regime."

But the Warshefana tribe has denied any involvement in the attack. In a statement, the Al-Maya Municipality claimed it was the work of "agents of fitna [division]" who want to "cause strife between the tribes and destroy Libya's social tissue."

Corrupt officials seemingly operating based on tribal affiliations and self-interests are disrupting the fabric of Libyan society. According to the UN's Refugee Agency: "The current situation in Libya is characterized by a continued lack of rule of law and order, ongoing fighting between rival armed groups in many parts of the country and daily assassinations, bombings and kidnappings.

"Intense fighting between opposing armed groups over control of territory, resources and infrastructure since May 2014 has resulted in the death of thousands of people, including civilians, and led to the displacement of over 435,000 individuals, the destruction of vital infrastructure, disruption of basic services and deteriorating humanitarian conditions."



© REUTERS/ ESAM OMRAN AL-FETORI


But since the fall of Gaddafi, Libya is now, according to UN special envoy Berardino Leon, "on the verge of economic and financial collapse" and "facing a huge security threat because of civil war."

Leon also says a more important threat to Libya is from Islamic State militants.

While the West has been accused of turning a blind eye on the chaos ensued, European Union leaders will be forced to look back at Libya while member states' navies carry out Operation Sophia — refugee search and rescue operations at sea.

Rear Admiral Herve Blejean, deputy head of Operation Sophia, told a news conference:

"At some point, it will have to work within Libyan territory."

As the chaos deepens in Libya and unity government talks continue to fail, ISIL finds more opportunities.

"ISIL has realized that the largest factions are more interested in fighting each other," Mattia Toaldo, Libya specialist at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told Reuters.

"It is expanding in central Libya, encountering little resistance".

UK and France Among Countries Blamed for Chaos in Libya

Πηγή: Sputnik
March 24 2015

The international community - and the UK in particular - has come under severe criticism for allowing the situation in Libya to descend into chaos after the fall of Gaddafi, causing ISIL to establish a foothold in North Africa.


A House of Commons Foreign Affairs committee report, released on March 24, says that following the air and sea strikes, led by the UK and France with the US, Libya was left largely without functioning institutions and there was a failure to dissolve the various militias and prevent the flow of weapons across North Africa.

The report said:

"That the current crisis and conflict in Libya was brought about by failures among the Libyan politicians and militias does not absolve the international community, or the UK, from a particular responsibility to assist Libya to repair itself."

"The fact that ISIL appears to have taken advantage of the chaos in Libya to establish itself there is a security concern reaching beyond Libya, and is further motivation for the international community to provide assistance."

Brave Words, Few Deeds


Britain joined France and the US in the air strikes to allow opponents of Gaddafi to take control of the major cities of Libya. In the aftermath, in September 2011, the UK Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were given a rapturous reception as they toured Tripoli and Benghazi.

"It is great to be here in free Benghazi, and free Libya," Mr Cameron said. "Your city was an inspiration to the world as you threw off the dictator and chose freedom. People in Britain salute your courage."



© AP PHOTO/ RAQQA MEDIA CENTER

President Sarkozy said "You wanted peace, you wanted liberty, you want economic progress. France, Great Britain and Europe will be on the side of the Libyan people".

However, the report says the country has now disintegrated into a patchwork of militias fighting each other, which has allowed ISIL to establish itself and take advantage of the chaos. The committee said this had led to a direct threat of terror attacks on mainland Europe.

"Illegal migration through and from Libya is undoubtedly a major concern, not least because of a potential security threat from terrorists who could use this means to travel to Europe to conduct attacks," the report said.

It also said the appointment of Jonathan Powell as the UK Special Envoy to the Libyan Political Transition has led to "some limited criticism of his role and lack of visibility".