In order to gain a strategically important position in the redesign of the Middle East and the changing international balance and to realize its Ottoman ambitions, in 2012 the Turkish state began to train paramilitary proxy forces. He has sent them to various countries in the Middle East, Kurdistan and other parts of the world.

One of the Turkish companies that has been commissioned to organize the proxy forces is SADAT (Uluslararası Savunma Danışmanlık İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., International Defense Consultancy). The company was founded in 2012 by the Turkish general Adnan Tanrıverdi. SADAT is directly connected to the advisers of the Turkish President and maintains close relations with the Turkish secret service MIT. Gülnur Ayba, adviser to Turkish President Erdogan, is responsible for relations between MIT and SADAT. At the same time, Ayba is known for its proximity to the President of the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan (South Kurdistan), Nêçîrvan Barzanî.

When and how did SADAT become active in South Kurdistan?

The SADAT company set up its first base in 2017 in the southern Kurdish province of Dohuk. It carries out many of its activities in South Kurdistan under the names of the companies TIKA, HAKSIAD and ORSAM. These companies associated with SADAT also recruit employees for the Turkish secret service.

The special units `Hêza Gulan` and the` Roj-Peshmerga`[1] affiliated with the ENKS (Kurdish National Council) - both subordinate to the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) and the Barzani family - were trained by SADAT military specialists in Dohuk in 2018. The training took place in the district of Xenz in the Dohuk region. Apparently the USA also supports SADAT's activities in the region.

After their training, SADAT integrated the unit `Hêza Gulan` into the FSA (Free Syrian Army) in order to use it for the fight against the Assad regime. The unit were organized under the name `Selahedîn û Farûq-Einheit`. Such activities by SADAT continue to this day. SADAT trained proxy forces in Turkey not only for them to be deployed in Kurdistan and Syria. Thousands of members of these units were trained to fight in Libya and Azerbaijan and sent to war there to assert Turkish interests. The paramilitary proxy forces that fought under the banner of the FSA in Afrin, Girê Spî and Serêkaniyê were also trained and organized by SADAT. Likewise, the `Roj-Peshmerga` received military training from the SADAT company for the fight against the PKK in the mountainous regions of Xakûrkê, Zap and Garê.

The relations between the unit `Hêza Gulan` and SADAT

Officially the unit `Hêza Gulan` is subordinate to the South Kurdish Peshmerga Ministry. In fact, it is a special military unit of the KDP and the Barzani family, which is receiving special training from the SADAT company. It was set up to fight other Kurds. The unit receives support from the secret service of the KDP `Parastin`. When the KDP dispatched armed forces to the southern Kurdish region of Garê on October 25th, they were members of the `Hêza Gulan` and the `Roj-Peshmerga`. Their stationing in Garê has since caused great tension in the region.

Relations between SADAT and Turkmens in Kirkuk

The city of Kirkuk is one of the most unstable regions in South Kurdistan or Iraq. Nobody knows how the local situation will develop in the future. SADAT used the political instability and lack of security on the ground to organize in Kirkuk. The company uses its contacts to Turkmen individuals to set up and train paramilitary proxy forces there. These Turkmen paramilitary forces were used in the past in the southern Kurdish region of Xûrmatûyê against the Kurdish population, which resulted in tensions between the Kurdish and Turkmen population of the region. In order to win over the Turkish population, SADAT paramilitary forces also hoisted a PKK flag in a Turkmen cemetery in Kirkuk.

[1]The members of the `Roj-Peshmerga` are recruited from Kurds from Rojava who have fled to South Kurdistan. They have already been used for attacks on the Yazidi region of Shengal in 2017.

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