Erdogan: Turkey would think about the leaving from Libya with a condition
On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Turkey would discuss withdrawing its forces from Libya if other foreign forces leave at the first. Indeed, Turkey’s parliament authorized, in December, an 18-month extension of its forces deployment in Libya.
For a long time, Ankara alleged that Turkish armed personnel were only installed in Libya for training units loyal to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) against the Libyan National Army (LNA) that constitute a competing administration backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar in the East.
Nevertheless, foreign powers and international monitors have accused Turkey for the fact that it was intervening militarily in the North African country to expand later its influence in the region.
In fact, Turkey’s presence in Libya is related to its wider interests in the eastern Mediterranean, where it is looking for natural gas in contested waters claimed by Cyprus in Greece.
Moreover, the Syrian Observatory, which is a war monitor, said that Turkey employed Syrian and Somali mercenaries to fight in Libya alongside the GNA.
It should indicate that Libya has entered on the disorder since the 2011 toppling of Dictator Moammar Gaddafi.
Otherwise, an interim executive was designated on Saturday to lead conflict-torn Libya until December elections after a decade of disorder.
