On Thursday, Turkish intelligence summoned the commanders of all the Turkish-backed factions ("Syrian National Army") to a meeting in Gaziantep, following the publication of a damning UN report about the grave human rights abuses carried out by SNA https://twitter.com/Elizrael/status/1305852337936830465
According to an attendee of the meeting, Abu Said, the Turkish intel officer in charge of the Syria file, informed the commanders that Turkey is establishing a council of religious scholars that will solve problems that arise between the factions.
These problems are often resolved thru gunfights. One of the scholars will be Omar Hudeifa, working for Faylaq al-Sham, another is Abdullah al-Shinani, associated with the Deir Ezzor factions.
The commanders weren't given a choice & ordered to submit to the arbitration of council
Next, Abu Said spoke about the CoI report. In an unprecedentedly harsh tone, he told the commanders to halt the abuses of civilians. All the commanders remained silent, except one. Abu Hatem Shaqra, the Commander of the Ahrar al-Sharqiya faction, apparently tried to speak up.
Abu Said hushed Abu Hatem & told him that it's the mess Ahrar al-Sharqiya made in killing Hevrîn Xelef that drew so much attention to the abuses of the factions.
Bizarrely, the Turks upheld Abu Amsha, the Commander of the Amshat faction, as an exemplar of good behavior.
In recent months, Abu Amsha worked to regularize his force, conducted many drills for the fighters. But the CoI repeatedly mentioned the faction's abuses. The Amshat are involved (according to my sources) in racketeering, protection money extraction, home confiscations, robberies
Abu Said concluded that commanders will bear the responsibility for the abuses of their fighters, yet did not specify how. Turkey pays the salaries of the SNA fighters & arms them, yet thus far Ankara hasn't used its leverage to pressure factions to halt abuses.
Abu Said's focus in discussing the abuses of the faction was their documentation & exposure to the outside world. It was apparent to the meeting participant (my source) that the reputation of the SNA and Turkey is what matters to him, not actually halting the abuses.
This is not the first meeting between Turkish intelligence and the commanders of the factions regarding their abuses & corruption. Most recently, Turkey has pressured them to halt the smuggling of refugees into Turkey.
In May, after the Hamza Division & fighters from Ghouta fought each other in Efrîn & killed passersby, large-scale protests erupted by Arab settlers. Turkish military officers held meetings with lower-ranking commanders & fighters across SNA ares telling them to stop abuses.
During the infighting,11 detained Kurds (including 8 women & a baby) were discovered in a black site run be the Hamza Division in Efrîn. Since, they were simply moved to a new prison run by the Hamza Division in Bzaa'. They are yet to be charged with any crime.
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