Ankara continues to sink in quagmire as Turkish soldiers mobilize in western Libyan

Mustafa Kamel

At a time when the Libyan crisis seems to be heading for a breakthrough, Ankara continues to send hundreds of soldiers to western Libya to fuel the conflict, in addition to withdrawing nearly 1,500 mercenaries in an attempt to delude the international community that it is complying with their decisions.

Sending the military

Earlier this week, Turkey pushed hundreds of its soldiers to western Libya, in the area controlled by the Government of National Accord (GNA) and its affiliated militias, in order to intensify its military presence after withdrawing 1,500 mercenaries from there.

Recent days have witnessed the operation of nearly 36 Turkish military flights, which was monitored by air traffic monitoring sites. Those flights carried a number of soldiers and in return transferred mercenaries from Libya to Azerbaijan to support it in its war against Armenia.

The withdrawal of mercenaries comes as a step by Ankara to delude the international community that it is complying with their decisions to withdraw mercenaries from Libya, while strengthening its presence with regular soldiers in greater numbers. This also comes as these mercenaries have caused armed clashes between the militias loyal to the GNA in western Libya for moral and financial reasons, which prompted Turkey to transfer them outside Libyan territory for fear of weakening its front in western Libya after they carried out many terrorist operations without prior coordination with the Turkish intelligence on timing and objectives. This caused an embarrassment for the regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in front of some international forces supporting its presence in Libya.

Al-Watiya air base is witnessing high fortification, including the Turkish military securing the perimeter of the airport in anticipation of the presence of mines, amid reports that six warplanes will soon arrive, along with other reports related to attempts by GNA Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj to bring Pakistani pilots to western Libya.

Burdened by mercenaries

Ankara’s mercenaries caused embarrassment to the Turkish regime because of their actions in western Libya and fueling the conflict between the armed militias loyal to the Sarraj government, while Tripoli witnessed terrorist operations by these factions, including a suicide bombing near the headquarters of the UN mission in the Janzour region, west of Tripoli, in early September.

According to the interpretations of Libyan security sources, such incidents prompted the Turkish intelligence to expel mercenaries from Libya, but at the same time they brought in a greater numbers of soldiers.