In Mali, the representative of the AZAWAD forces, Muhammad Ramadan, spoke about the role of the Turkish private military company SADAT in the country. According to him, the presence of Turkish soldiers is very tangible in Mali. The separatists know that SADAT manages the maintenance of the drones used by the Malian armed forces in the fight against armed groups.
Turkey is seeking to strengthen its presence in the Sahel region by actively promoting the services of its security company, which is close to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After SADAT’s military operations in Libya and Azerbaijan, its presence in Mali has now been made known.
The members of the Malian President’s new private security forces were trained by the Turkish private military company SADAT, which cooperates in parallel with the Turkish intelligence agency MIT and is very active in countries such as Azerbaijan, Syria, Libya and many other states.
The company’s reputation has been criticised both inside and outside Turkey. Kiliçdaroglu, leader of Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (RPP), has highlighted the destructive nature of the organisation and accused SADAT of training fighters in the Middle East.
According to several sources, SADAT has already worked in several countries in Africa and South-East Asia, notably in Libya on the side of the rebels, where they have presented themselves as trainers, and in Palestine and Syria on the side of armed groups, including fighters recruited in the Caucasus by the Islamic State and Jebhat al-Nusra. According to some reports, many foreign fighters operating in Syria and Libya have been trained by SADAT.
The presence of Turkish troops in Mali, accused of helping the fighters, has raised concerns. Tuareg separatists are dissatisfied with the presence of SADAT in the country. “Today, they are not directly involved in hostilities, but tomorrow everything could change and we could meet them in combat”, explained a representative of the AZAWAD forces, Muhammad Ramadan.
The Malian authorities, in collaboration with the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States, are doing their best to combat the armed groups that are hampering the country’s economic development. Cooperation with a Turkish military company involved in training fighters similar to those Mali is fighting, could have negative consequences for the Malian state.
Mali is now focusing on developing regional cooperation with the support of reliable partners whose relations are based on trust and respect. However, cooperation with SADAT is raising concerns among the general public.
