Turkey Involved Child Soldiers in Libya's Civil War

Libya and Turkey have violated their obligations to prevent the use and recruitment of children in armed conflicts, as stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This is reported by Ermenihaber.am.

“This was noted in the United Nations Human Rights Council's report on the fact-finding mission in Libya, which examined human rights violations that have occurred since 2016. According to the report, underage (child) soldiers have also been involved in Libya's civil war, with Turkey playing a role in their transfer to Libya and participation in the war.

“Based on evidence obtained since the end of 2019, Turkey has been an intermediary for the recruitment of visibly underage Syrian children aged 15 to 18 to fight against the Libyan National Army for the Government of National Accord,” the report emphasizes.

The BBC Turkish service reports that, commenting on the report, Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the allegations, labeling them baseless.

It should be noted that in July of this year, the U.S. State Department also included Turkey in the list of countries involved in the use of child soldiers.