13 members of Turkish-backed armed opposition groups defected to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the countryside of the town of Zarkan, north of Hassakeh, an SDF military source said on Monday.
Two groups of the Turkish-backed opposition members announced their defections during the last two weeks, the sources said in an exclusive statement to North Press.
Seven defectors were affiliated with Ahrar al-Sharqiya (Free Men of the East), an active armed Syrian rebel group, while six were affiliated with the Sultan Murad opposition group, according to the source.
The defectors confessed that Turkey did not pay them their wages, and ordered them to Azerbaijan in order to participate in the fighting against Armenian forces, so they decided to defect.
Turkish-backed opposition groups were equipping new Syrian mercenary groups to move to Azerbaijan in order to support Azerbaijani forces in the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region between Armenia and Azerbaijan, special sources confirmed to North Press.
The members of Amshat Division registered the names of more than 150 armed members from various Syrian opposition groups to be transferred to Turkey and then to Azerbaijan, sources added.
Most of the opposition posts on the frontlines against the Syrian government in Zarkan were evacuated while two or three members remained “as a result of their dissatisfaction over the imposed Turkish pressure on them and not being paid their salaries,” the military sources stated.
Additionally, a Turkish-backed Syrian militant confessed that he had come to “cut off the nonbelievers’ heads” for a monthly salary of 2,000 dollars, the Armenian Ministry of Defense published on Sunday.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
