Topic summary
Child soldier
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Children in the military.
Syria
The Turkish government linked think tank SETA withdrew a report detailing the composition of the Syrian National Army as it revealed the use of child soldiers. The Syrian National Army is currently funded by Turkey, who signed the optional protocol to the convention on the rights of the child on the involvement of children in armed conflict 8 September 2000. It was reported that Turkey has deployed child soldiers in the Syrian National Army to Libya according to a report by Al-Monitor, citing sources on the ground. In July 2021, the United States of America added Turkey to the list of countries that implicated in the use of child soldiers, because it used them in Syria and Libya. The 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report mentioned that factions of the Turkish backed Syrian National Army recruited and used Syrian children as child soldiers in Libya. The 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices mentioned the recruitment and use of child soldiers from Turkish-supported forces in Syria. The 2021, 2022 and 2023 Trafficking in Persons Reports mentioned that Turkey provided support to armed groups in Syria which recruit and use child soldiers.