Erdogan’s publishing company: Four Turkish goals of controlling printing of Libyan textbooks

Ali Ragab

In a move aimed at stealing Libya’s money and minds, a leaked document revealed the efforts of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government to control the field of Libyan book printing, which in itself constitutes a step towards controlling the educational curricula in a way that serves the interests and strategy of the Turkish Brotherhood.

A letter by Turkish Ambassador to Libya Serhat Aksen revealed Turkey’s ambitions to control the printing of Libyan textbooks, constituting a great scandal for Fayez al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA), which is controlled by Tripoli militias and the Brotherhood.

Aksen’s letter to GNA Deputy Minister of Education Adel Juma Amer recommended that a Turkish company, Ozgun Publications, print Libya’s textbooks.

The letter revealed Turkey’s management of the GNA, as the Turkish ambassador emphasized that the company had won a tender in Ankara to print textbooks for a number of stages.

The Turkish company was founded in 1979, starting first in the field of printing, publishing, advertising, marketing and distribution, and then it began to grow its capital and the fields in which it operates.

The company currently works in many fields, including projects in embassies, education, housing and offices, health, industrial structures, renovations, administrative buildings and road infrastructure, making it one of the most important companies close to Erdogan’s party.

Observers believe that Turkey aims to control the printing of textbooks in Libya, therefore controlling the educational curricula and introducing expressions and events that glorify the Ottoman presence in Turkey, as well as glorifying Turkey’s role in Erdogan’s era.

They note that Turkey’s control of printing books gives the Brotherhood control over educational curricula in line with the Turkish vision.

Observers have also added that there is a third goal of Turkey’s control of printing books, which is the future control of the publishing market in Libya and to control the Libyan mind by printing books in line with the vision of the Brotherhood and the neo-Ottoman Empire.

Finally, the economic gain is an important part of Turkey’s attempt to capture the publishing, book, advertising and media market in Libya.