The ruling Justice and Development Party has cut pays of its jihadist allies in Syria in August after the Turkish government experienced problems with so-called Syrian National Coalition

Turkey-backed National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (NCSROF) and Ankara have been at loggerheads.

Rather than the names supported by the Turkish government, Kurdish-backed Riad Seif has been elected as the new president of NCSROF. Following this result, the relations between Turkey and Turkey-backed jihadists in Syria have begun to deteriorate while Ankara has cut pays of its jihadist allies due to "bureaucratic reasons" in August 2017, Cumhuriyet daily reported.

DISAPPOINTMENT IN TURKEY-BACKED JIHADISTS

The fact that the negotiations on the de-escalation zones, for which Turkey has been set as a 'guarantor,' have not yet been concluded has increased the tensions between Ankara and the jihadist groups in Syria.

The 'opponents' had come together at a meeting held by Saudi Arabia on August 22, aimed at unifying all Syrian 'opposition' under the roof of the High Negotiations Committee, which was created to hold talks with the United Nations on behalf of Syria. During this meeting, Riyadh focused on providing contact between the Turkish government and Turkey-backed jihadists in Istanbul regarding the efforts for unification of the Cairo and Moscow platforms including Kurdish opposition which was excluded by Turkey.

A delegation headed by NCSROF President Riad Seif and a delegation headed by Turkey’s Foreign Affairs Secretary met up in Istanbul. At the meeting, financial problems of jihadists, the Riyadh talks and a possible truce under the guarantor ship of Turkey were put on the agenda.

Expressing that the financial support to jihadists in Syria will be provided soon, the Turkish delegation stated that the cuts in payments were completely due to 'bureaucratic reasons.' Shortly afterwards, the Turkish government paid half of the salaries and financial supports to its jihadist allies. Yet, it has been learnt that this ‘bureaucratic’ delay on payments was because of Ankara’s concerns over the new administration of NCSROF under the presidency of Seif.