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Libya, the new battlefield between Turkey and Russia Tripoli: peace on the beach, war in the outskirts of Khalifa Hafter, the ‘strong man’ of Libya that aims to take Tripoli

The conflict in Libya might move toward an inexorable escalation in the military. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday announced its intention to file a motion in the Turkish Parliament on 8th January requesting your authorization to send troops to Libya. The representative Turkish justified his decision as a response to an alleged request of the Government of National Unity (GNA for its acronym in English), recognized by the international community, and who has been besieged by the troops of the rebel general Khalifa Hafter. The Executive of Tripoli confirmed to the last hour of the afternoon, the request of military support to Ankara "by land, sea and air".

“Given that there is now an invitation (of Libya), we will honor that... we will Present a law proposal to send troops to Libya as soon as Parliament reopened its doors,” said Erdogan in a speech in Ankara in front of leaders of his party, the islamist AKP. His announcement came a day after a surprise visit to Tunisia to meet with the new president of the country, maghreb, Kais Said, in order to address the libyan crisis. Until now, Tunisia has maintained a strict neutrality on the libyan conflict which has allowed him to be the headquarters of numerous diplomatic meetings.

on The morning of Thursday, the Interior minister of libya, Fathi Bashaga, opened the door to the arrival of Turkish troops to Libya, if not the gave by fact. “If the situation scale, we have the right to defend Tripoli and its residents. We will make an official request to the Turkish Government to support us militarily and we can expel the ghost of the mercenary forces,” warned Bashaga in a press conference held in Tunis. The Governments of Tripoli and Ankara signed a military cooperation agreement and another for the delimitation of maritime borders that were ratified in haste by the Turkish Parliament.

The last movements of mr Erdogan and of the Unity Government are a reaction to the progress made recently by the troops of general Jafter, that from the month of April, encircle Tripoli. Last December 12, the veteran general, who had received reinforcements on the part of the powers that support it, announced the launch of a new military offensive on the capital which he described as “decisive”. Jafter is an ally of the Government of Tobruk, located in the east of Libya, and for more than four years fighting a battle with the Unity Government is not free from outbreaks of violence to seize control of the country, plunged into chaos eight year after the fall of the Gaddafi regime.

The lock both political and military in the conflict between the factions libyan has resulted in an increased interference of foreign powers in the country, maghreb, which has become a coveted piece on the chessboard geostrategic regional. The Unity Government has the support of Turkey, Qatar and Italy. Jafter, for its part, has benefited from the favors of Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Russia and, surreptitiously, also of France.

according To a UN report, both sides have violated of how “flagrant” the arms embargo decreed by the international institution. In particular, the united Arab Emirates and Jordan provided weapons to Hafter, while Turkey did the same with the Government of Serraj. In addition, numerous reports indicate that the rebel general would have also received the help of several thousand mercenaries sudanese and russians, these through the security company Wagner.

In his speech on Thursday, Erdogan referred to directly to the presence of foreign troops on libyan territory. “Russia is there with 2,000 Wagner. What has sent the Government official? Not,” snapped defiant president Turkish, who also made mention of some 5,000 mercenaries sudanese. “They are all helping a lord of war, while we accept the invitation of the legitimate Government of a country. That is the difference”, he added.

“Turkey is following a strategy with two legs in Libya: politics and the military. The announcement of the dispatch of troops an attempt not to lose ground in the battle front, while the voyage of Erdogan to Tunisia had as objective to prepare the Conference of Berlin. The presence and position of Tunisia there would be important,” says Bechir Jouini, an analyst tunisian specialized in the hornet's nest in libya. The meeting in the German capital, UN-sponsored, was planned for the month of October, but was postponed sine die. In this umpteenth attempt of the international community to agree on a single approach to the libyan conflict, the Berlin Conference will bring together all major countries involved in the libyan crisis, but not to the local actors.

Date Of Update: 26 December 2019, 22:00