How Turkey’s “Mamluk SNA Legion” in Syria—fueled by @EU_Comission billions—holds an entire people hostage, forcibly conscripts desperate IDPs, and issues shoot-to-kill orders to keep them from fleeing. A thread
1/ On Dec 17, @vonderleyen flew to Ankara, pledging another €1 billion atop the €10 billion the EU gave Turkey. She praised Erdogan’s “responsibility” for hosting millions of Syrian refugees. "We have stood by you in this effort.”
But behind the façade of hollow EU reports lies the material reality: Turkey has exploited this crisis to arm and bankroll the so-called Syrian National Army (SNA), displacing more than half a million Kurds, Christians, and Yazidis, while preying on vulnerable internally displaced persons (IDPs) to recruit them as cannon fodder.
2/ Most assume the SNA = a single rebel group. In truth, it’s an umbrella of dozens of militias. Some factions operate like cartels—e.g., Sultan Murad or Ahrar al-Sharqiya—exerting muscle, confiscating land, and terrorizing local populations. Meanwhile, many rank-and-file “grunts” are desperate IDPs pushed into uniform for a meager $50/month. Two very different realities under one label.
3/ Documented Orders to Kill Would-Be Deserters
A newly surfaced document (see attached photo) from the “Joint Force Command” in SNA-held areas—linked to factions like Suleyman Shah and Sultan Murad (under Turkish intelligence influence)—explicitly orders killing SNA soldiers originating from Homs, Aleppo, and Hama if they attempt to leave Serêkaniye (Ras al-Ayn), Girê Spî (Tell Abyad), or Afrin to return home. The text states:
“Any SNA member who tries to exit Joint Force–controlled areas under the pretext of returning to his home village should be arrested. If they refuse to stop, our fighters have full authorization to open fire… We stress the need for immediate compliance with this directive.”
This effectively makes many SNA recruits forced conscripts—unable to leave without risking death.
Under the Rome statute, forced conscription is always a war crime, similar to involuntary servitude or abduction, because nonstate actors do not have the same privileges as a sovereign state.
4/ We’ve already seen this in action: recently, 25 militants from the SNA tried crossing into SDF-held territory to surrender and go home. They were seized by Sultan Murad and handed over to the Turkish Military Police in Tel Abyad. That’s the order from the leaked directive. It’s not rumor—it’s happening. The “cartel” factions enforce these brutal rules, leaving rank-and-file SNA as prisoners, not volunteers.
5/ ‘Cartel-Style’ Factions
Names to know:
- Jabhat al-Shamiyya
- Faylaq al-Sham
- Firqat al-Sultan Murad
- Ahrar al-Sharqiyya (US Treasury-sanctioned for torture, abductions, property seizures)
They enjoy near-free rein. In Afrin, the commander of "Sultan Murad", Abu Walid Al-Azi, seized ~75% of the olive groves (~$150 million/year market value). Turkey purchases tons of Afrin’s olives, funneling revenue back to these militias. Turkey's Agriculture Minister Dr. Bekir Pakdemirli openly justified it, claiming "it prevents profit from reaching the PKK."
6/ Christian Farmland Also Seized
- September 9, 2024: An Islamist commander seized 500 acres from Christian farmers near Serê Kaniyê (Ras al-Ain).
- Local sources blame Al-Hamzat Battalion (led by Seif Boulad) & Jaysh Al-Sharqya (led by Abou Hatem Shaqra). Both groups sanctioned by the US. They threatened to raise “taxes” on farmers from 20% to 35%.
- Christian NGOs decry these acts as crimes against humanity, urging the UK, US, and EU to intervene. No words of condemnation followed.
7/ - Core “cartel-like” factions wield power, confiscate land, pocket extortion fees, and crack down on lower-tier SNA fighters who dare desert.
- Recruits often join out of utter poverty. Some are IDPs living in squalid tent camps, making under $50/month, which is under the extreme poverty line. Now that the Assad regime is no more, many want to go back to their villages, but fear imprisonment—or worse—from these “mafia” groups enforcing Turkish state directives.
A video surfaced showing an incident where recruits were subjected to a collective beating by the cartel-like faction, "Sultan Murad".
8/ EU-Turkey Refugee Deal & ‘Safe Zones’
- Since 2016, the EU’s billions have ostensibly aimed to curb migration flows.
- Turkey then used the “safe zone” concept to forcibly relocate millions of refugees, citing “security concerns.”
- A façade for mass demographic engineering—particularly in Kurdish-majority areas—while entrapping IDPs in heavily policed camps.
9/ The Mamluk Foreign Legion
Need mercenaries for wars abroad? Enter the SNA. Turkey has flown these fighters to Libya, Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabakh), and possibly Ukraine. Pitched as “volunteers,” they function as Ankara’s expendable foot soldiers, waging someone else’s battles for a stipend—paid partly by EU money intended for “refugee support.”
Recruitment offices pop up in SNA-controlled towns, offering “contracts” to impoverished fighters who see no other survival option.
10/ The calculus: The Turkish defense sector can produce its armed drones, use them, sell them, and deploy them in overseas bases, while relying on a "burner infantry," often composed of child soldiers.
Turkish elites seek greater freedom of movement by transforming the Turkish Navy from a coastal deterrent into a blue-water, power-projecting asset.
Proxy warfare has become its go-to tool for intervening without international accountability. Turkey is redefining itself, driven by an urge to reshape its borders.
Final Tweet/ Now, with Damascus’ grip eroded and millions of IDPs desperate to return home, the SDF has pledged safe passage—even to ex-SNA fighters and their families—so they can finally leave these nightmarish camps. But that runs headlong into Ankara’s agenda: to keep a steady pool of hopeless recruits for its border-cleansing project, effectively blocking any mass return. Meanwhile, as humanitarian needs skyrocket—16.7 million Syrians in dire need, 7.2 million still displaced, a shattered economy, and rampant gender-based violence—SNA factions continue to commit abductions, extortion, and worse, as recent UN reports detail.
It’s time the international community—particularly the EU—faces the truth of where its billions are flowing. I’ve stood alongside those who fought to liberate Raqqa; I’ve seen how Syrians yearn to rebuild their lives, not languish in these endless cycles of exploitation. If we don’t demand accountability now—if we let Turkey’s Mamluk-like legion hold millions hostage—we forfeit any claim to stand for justice. Let Syrians finally return. Let them heal. Enough profiteering off people’s ruin.
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