Defections of the “Syrian National Army” are increasing due to non-payment of salaries

The state of internal divisions and disputes between the ranks of the armed Syrian opposition factions loyal to the Turkish occupation continues, due to the decline in financial support provided to them and the low level of monthly wages received by the elements, in light of the high prices and daily costs of living in the northern Syrian regions.

The majority of the elements of these factions are young people who are unemployed and studying, and do not have stable sources of income.

The low level of monthly wages, their complete disconnection from some factions and their intermittent access to others, led to individual and collective splits between these factions, despite Turkish promises to provide them with the monthly salaries in a timely manner.

Husam al-Muhaimid (a pseudonym for one of the sources of the Aso News Network in northern Syria) stated that the faction of the “National Front for the Liberation of Syria”, which is affiliated with the “Syrian National Army” loyal to the Turkish occupation, has witnessed for nearly 8 months large individual splits among its elements, and the numbers of these have reached approximately 1,700/ cases of defection, he said.

“Al-Muhaimid” attributes the reason for the split to the interruption of the monthly salaries of the operatives, for three months in the beginning, then the matter turned into the payment of a symbolic monthly compensation to the operatives that does not exceed 400 Turkish lira (approximately 28 US dollars), according to him.

According to the source, the largest part of the “National Front for the Liberation of Syria” members are located within the areas controlled by “Haya’at Tahrir al-Sham” (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), which facilitated the process of their defection and their joining the ranks of the latter because of the attractive salaries it grants to its members, which ranges between 600-1400/ Turkish lira, according to the specialization of each component.

The source also indicates that some of the defected members of these factions chose to return to their homes and search for other job opportunities away from armed work, or to flee to Turkey through smuggling routes, in search of job opportunities.

In the context, “Hassan Al-Omar”, 30 years old, who is a pseudonym for one of the recently defected members of the “Free Idlib Army” faction loyal to the Turkish occupation, told Aso News Network that he announced his defection from the aforementioned faction in late 2021 due to the interruption of their monthly salaries for a period of time,5 months, and there are no signs of solving this problem, “despite the repeated demands of the elements to solve it,” according to him.

And he continues by saying that he was on the contact lines with the areas of control of the Syrian government forces in the southern countryside of Idlib, where the provision of monthly salaries to the elements was cut off in May 2021.

He continued until November of the same year, to announce his defection from the faction, after losing hope of returning salaries, and looking for a job opportunity that would enable him to bear the burdens and costs of living and to meet the needs of his family of four persons.

Al-Omar indicates that there is no regular monthly salary schedule, and that salaries are sometimes interrupted for several months, and their delivery stops indefinitely, at other times.

“The salary level does not exceed 400 Turkish liras, which is not enough to meet the needs of an average family that needs 2500 Turkish liras per month, due to the deteriorating economic and living conditions,” according to Al-Omar.

The need is the reason for joining the ranks of the factions
The previous source confirms to Aso News Network that the reason for many young people joining these factions is the financial need to secure part of the needs of their families, and that their joining the factions is not motivated by fighting or revolution or the like, and the evidence is the many cases of defection after the salaries were cut off, as he described it .

He also looks forward to securing work in any other field away from the factions, in order to secure the daily living requirements of his family, despite attempts by the factions’ leaders to persuade the defectors to return to military action with them and promise them to commit to paying and increasing the monthly salaries.

“Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) is the destination of the defectors
Many elements who defected from the factions loyal to the Turkish occupation choose to go to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), due to the high salaries – compared to the salaries of other factions – that the latter provides to its members and support them with food baskets.

Media activist, residing in Turkey, Ayham al-Mohammad, told Aso News Network that “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” has focused since the beginning of its formation on supporting those who joined its ranks and working to develop their military competencies through continuous military courses.

He points out that “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” relies heavily on the density of the human element in its ranks, “to extend its influence over all the areas it controls in Idlib regions and its countryside, and parts of the western countryside of Aleppo, the western countryside of Hama, and the northern countryside of Latakia.”

Al-Mohammad added, “The salaries of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham start at $100 or 1,400 Turkish liras, up to 600 Turkish liras, according to the hierarchy it adopts. They commit themselves in the camps for a period of 20 days per month, and they receive the highest salary, which is 1,400 Turkish liras, in addition to a monthly food basket of 50 US dollars. As for the rest of the elements on the contact lines, they receive a monthly salary of 600 Turkish liras, and they also receive a monthly food basket of 50 US dollars. “.

And he continues, “On the other hand, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) permanently conducts training courses on medium, light and sometimes heavy weapons, and it holds competitions between its members and those who achieve the first ranks give them prizes and financial incentives as well. Such attractives served to its elements push the elements in the other factions to join their ranks, and this is what they seek, which is to attract the largest possible number of elements in order to extend their influence over the region and weaken the rest of the competing factions.”

According to “Al-Mohammad”, “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” has recently provided many facilities for those wishing to join its ranks, by opening a “recruiting people” in all areas under its control in northern Syria, so that hundreds of members of the “National Front for the Liberation of Syria” could join it.

Turkish desperate attempts to solve the problem of defections
For its part, the Turkish occupation intelligence tried to prevent the expansion of defections among the ranks of the “National Front for the Liberation of Syria” by passing a financial payment that had been stuck for a long time again, where the wages of two previous months were paid the the elements which were the wages of November and December of last year to be interrupted again according to what was confirmed by the special source of Aso News Network, who requested anonymity for security reasons, the largest part of the financial payment went to the leaders and to pay off the accumulated debts of the aforementioned faction.

Defection into breadth
According to information obtained by Aso News Network, many of the elements affiliated with the “National Front for the Liberation of Syria” believe that the continued interruption of salaries that the elements use to provide for their families’ daily needs, means, in the end, the increase in cases of defection, and the fracture of the faction Which is considered one of the most prominent military formations of the “Syrian National Army” loyal to the Turkish occupation.

It is noteworthy that the “National Front for the Liberation of Syria” was formed in May 2018, and it includes more than 10 armed factions, most notably the “Free Idlib Army” and the two coastal divisions; The first and second, and the “Victory Army(Jayish Al-Nasir).