Hundreds of mercenaries have been booked in hotels in the northern Kurdish city of Van. From there they are taken by bus to Hakkari, from where they are sent to war in the guerrilla-held Medya Defense Zones in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq).
The Turkish invasion of the Medya Defense Zones is in a deadlock. Despite the support of the southern Kurdish KDP, the Turkish army had, according to guerrillas, recorded well over 2,000 casualties in the first six months of the attack alone. Every day, more soldiers and village guards die in guerrilla actions. Now the Turkish army is deploying an international mercenary squad of soldiers, similar to those in Syria and Rojava.
Living shields for mercenaries
As observers report, the hotels in the northern Kurdish city of Van are overcrowded with mercenaries, especially from Syria and Central Asia. From there, they will be taken to Hakkari. Apparently, civilian coaches from various private companies are used to transport the mercenaries. Civilian travellers also ride on the buses. They are thus used as de facto living shields against guerrilla actions. In Hakkari, the mercenaries are taken to the military bases and from there to the front. These facts have now been confirmed by an eyewitness.
The vehicle was not stopped at any checkpoint
An ANF eyewitness, whose name cannot be released for security reasons, said: “I travelled from Van to Hakkari, where the private shuttle service picked me up and dropped me off in front of a hotel. I waited there for about an hour, there was another passenger with me. We asked the driver why we. We should have left an hour ago, and he said, 'Sorry, if you want, we can refund you the fare and take you to Hakkari for free.'”
The eyewitness said that about 15 people came out of the hotel after one hour and added: “All these people were young and in a hurry to get on the bus. Their ages ranged between 18 to 25. They were all foreign nationals. During the trip they did not speak to each other. There are usually many checkpoints along the Van to Hakkari road. At these checkpoints, every vehicle is stopped and searched, but we passed each checkpoint without being stopped.” Apparently, the checkpoints had been informed of our passage beforehand.
"They were brought there to fight"
The witness said: “When we arrived in Hakkari city center, we got out of the vehicle, but the shuttle bus with only the foreigners on board continued towards Fatih and the Hakkari Mountain Troops Command. I know many people who have witnessed similar things before. There were rumours about it, but I witnessed it personally. It was obvious that they brought these people there to fight.”
