Erdogan seeks support from Ghannouchi and his companions for Libya’s Brotherhood

Asmaa al-Batakoshi

Libya’s Brotherhood-affiliated Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj has encountered successive setbacks at the hands the Libyan National Army (LNA) forces led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar after the latter launched its battle to liberate Tripoli from the grip of armed militias. Now, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has resorted to a new means to attempt to provide support to his allies in Tripoli, where he received both Sarraj and Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the Tunisia’s Brotherhood-affiliated Ennahda movement, at the same time in order to coordinate efforts to provide support to the Brotherhood in Libya.

Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of Libya’s Tripoli-based GNA, arrived on Sunday, January 12 to the Turkish city of Istanbul to meet with Erdogan. One day before that, Rached Ghannouchi held a meeting with the Turkish president at the Dolma Bahça Palace, which raised the suspicions and concerns of Tunisians about the unspoken goals of this visit, especially with the developments in Libya.

The timing of the two visits raised questions about their feasibility, especially with Erdogan’s increased efforts to interfere in Libyan affairs to serve his expansionist agenda, which does not serve the security of the region.

The Turkish president’s attempt came after the Tunisian presidency refused to get carried away with Erdogan’s desire to provide direct support to GNA in Libya and to get involved in supporting the Brotherhood, despite Erdogan’s visit to Tunisia and his meeting with President Kais Saied in December 2019.

Since 2011, Turkey has not stopped its support for political Islamist groups in order to expand its sphere of influence in North Africa, including Tunisia but more so Libya, where Erdogan recently used the GNA, which is controlled by the Brotherhood and whose influence is limited to the capital Tripoli, in order to interfere militarily.

It is noteworthy that Turkey signed two memoranda of understanding with the Sarraj government regarding border demarcation and military cooperation.

Innocent visit

Tunisian Popular Front MP Al-Munji al-Rahwi believes that the visit of Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi to Turkey coinciding with Erdogan’s meeting with Sarraj is not innocent and requires several clarifications.

The situation is delicate in Tunisia and sensitive in Libya, while the developments are indicative of complications that require a lot of caution and attention, Rahwi told the Reference, adding that Ennahda, through Ghannouchi, supports the GNA, in clear political bias for a party supported by the international Brotherhood organization.

Erdogan seeks to penetrate Libya to support Sarraj, and he used Adnan Tanurdi, his first military adviser, to supply Libya with terrorist elements through the SADAT security organization. More than a thousand elements were transferred to Libya via Libyan and African airlines, in coordination with Turkey, in exchange for sums of money. This indicates the size of the conspiracy led by Erdogan and Sarraj against LNA.

It is also noteworthy that the LNA has made important progress towards reaching the heart of Tripoli after Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar announced in April 2019 the launch of its decisive battle to liberate the capital, which is controlled by armed militias. This made the Turkish president accelerate his steps to provide support to the GNA.