Money, Hatred for the Kurds Drives Turkey’s Syrian Fighters
Money, Hatred for the Kurds Drives Turkey’s Syrian Fighters by Sarah El Deeb and Joseph Krause – Associated Press
The Syrian fighters 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.
They are part of the self-styled Syrian National Army, the shock troops in Turkey’s offensive against U.S.-allied Kurdish forces who were abandoned last week after President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of American troops from northern Syria.
The Syrian fighters, trained and funded by Turkey, present themselves as heirs to the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad. But while they include some Islamic extremists and past members of some Syrian rebel factions, many are Arab and Turkmen fighters from northern and eastern Syria who have an ax to grind against the Kurds and a reputation for violence and looting…
