The Armenian Bar Association has filed a complaint under the Global Magnitsky Sanctions program against SADAT International Defense Consultancy, a military contractor linked to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, alleging human rights abuses.
The complaint, which was filed on September 18, claims that SADAT recruits mercenaries who are linked to terrorist groups and deploys them to conflict zones such as Nagorno-Karabakh, Libya and Syria. It specifically alleges that these fighters were involved in rights violations during Azerbaijan’s 2020 offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The report also accuses SADAT of recruiting minors and coordinating with Turkish military and intelligence agencies, implying potential state involvement.
SADAT, Turkey’s first domestic military consultancy firm and a paramilitary organization, was established by former Erdoğan aide Adnan Tanrıverdi and 23 retired military officers on February 28, 2012.
According to its founding documents, SADAT’s mission is to make the Islamic world self-sufficient in terms of military power. Retired general Tanrıverdi once said SADAT was set up at the request of officials from Erdoğan’s government. Tanrıverdi also served as a senior advisor to President Erdoğan between 2016 and 2020.
According to the report, SADAT recruited Syrian mercenaries for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Two Syrian mercenaries were eventually captured and faced trial in Armenia. Additionally, the mercenaries were reportedly instructed to commit numerous human rights violations in Nagorno-Karabakh. Al-Shkher, one of the captured mercenaries, confirmed that Syrian mercenaries sent to Nagorno-Karabakh were promised an additional “$100 for each dead Armenian on top of a $2,000 salary.
He further testified that his group was ordered to kill all soldiers and civilians in a village, leaving no one alive, and to burn down and blow up homes. According to court documents, on October 11, 2020, mercenaries entered the town of Hadrut, burned homes and brutally killed civilians, including a woman and her disabled son.
SADAT has attracted growing scrutiny over US allegations that it trains Syrians who then are deployed to support pro-Turkish forces in war zones such as Libya.
The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, enacted by the US in 2016, allows for sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for significant human rights abuses and corruption. Named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died after uncovering large-scale corruption, the act empowers the US to impose asset freezes, travel bans and other restrictions.
The Armenian Bar Association’s complaint seeks to apply these measures to SADAT and its CEO, Ali Kamil Melih Tanrıverdi, the son of Adnan Tanrıverdi, who died last month.
