Erdogan admits violation of Berlin agreement

Fatma Abdel Ghany

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted Turkey’s violation of an agreement signed in Berlin a few days ago. The participants in the Berlin conference pledged not to send military personnel to the Libya and ban arms supply to the Libya.

However, on January 24 Erdogan said Turkish military personnel are being sent to Libya to support and train forces of the Fayez al-Sarraj-led Government of National Accord.

Speaking in Istanbul after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Erdogan also said countries which attended the Libya summit in Berlin on Sunday should not favor Serraj’s opponent, Khalifa Haftar, after he left the meeting without signing a ceasefire deal.

In a related event, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that less than 48 hours after the Berlin conference, Turkey sent mercenaries to Libya. The number of fighters who arrived to Tripoli has reached 2,600, while the number of militants who arrived in the Turkish camps for training totaled 1,790.

Al-Sarraj told the BBC TV channel that there were Syrian mercenaries fighting along with his militias against the Libyan National Army, noting that he would not hesitate to ask any party to help his militias defeat the Libyan army.

Al-Sarraj also decried the countries that criticize his cooperation with Turkey.

It is noteworthy that Turkey supports the al-Sarraj-led government, which recruits mercenaries. The cooperation between al-Sarraj and Ankara has fueled concerns about Turkish military intervention in Libya.