Are pro-Turkish Syrian mercenaries operating in Niger? The suspicion, not yet confirmed by conclusive documents, was first raised at the beginning of May with the announcement by the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) of the first dead repatriated to the country. The OSDH reported they were Syrian victims deployed in the Sahel region in the name of Turkey's geopolitical designs.

Since then, the OSDH, an information center linked to the Syrian opposition, has regularly reported arrivals in Niger of "over a thousand" of these Syrian fighters from Sadat, a private Turkish security company close to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. While Turkey's offensive in Africa is an old story, where security deals blend with economic contracts, humanitarian aid and the promotion of an Islam similar to the one envisioned by the Muslim Brotherhood, renewed attention seems to be focused on the Sahel at a time when the departure of the French and American forces is inviting new strategic players.

"In Niger, Syrian mercenaries are supposed to guard mines, oil installations or military bases," said OSDH director Rami Abdel-Rahman. "But they then find themselves involved in fighting against jihadist groups. Nine of these Syrian fighters have died to date." Disturbingly, OSDH reports that these men find themselves fighting alongside the "Russians" of Africa Corps (ex-Wagner), or even abandoned to the Corps' authority, even though Moscow and Ankara are supposed to be rivals in the Syrian war. "Russians and Turks are cooperating in Niger," said Abdel-Rahman.

On May 16, Agence France-Presse published an article quoting two pro-Turkish Syrian fighters contacted by telephone, one present in Niger, the other preparing to go there. However, the presence of these Syrians in Niger has not yet been formally and irrefutably established. Security, political and diplomatic sources in Niger contacted by Le Monde claim to have no proof of the deployment of these paramilitaries hired by Sadat.

Such a military projection by Ankara in the Sahel, if confirmed, would not be a big suprise, considering Turkey's practices. According to West African security sources, negotiations have indeed taken place between the military junta in Niamey and Sadat, an asset at the service of Turkey's strategy of influence. In the fall of 2020, Sadat sent Syrian mercenaries to support Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Nine months earlier, the same operation had taken place in western Libya on behalf of the Tripoli-based government. A US Department of Defense report dated June 2020 unambiguously established Sadat's role in supervising some 5,000 Syrian auxiliaries in Tripolitania alongside soldiers from Ankara's regular army. The intervention enabled the government of Fayez al-Sarraj, a Turkish ally, to repel an assault by Marshal Khalifa Haftar, backed by Wagner's Russian militiamen. The American report expressed concern about the notorious indiscipline of these Syrian mercenaries likely to provoke a hostile reaction from the Libyans, including thefts and sexual assaults.

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