Erdogan extending troop presence in Libya to compensate economic losses at home

Mustafa Kamel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan does his best to hinder reconciliation between Libya’s rivals.

This comes as he keeps interfering in Libyan affairs. His latest move in this regard was manifest in the submission by the presidency to the Turkish parliament of a bill for extending the mission of Turkish troops in Libya for another 18 months.

The bill was sent to the parliament at a time the United Nations worked hard to find a political way out of the crisis in Libya. The military committee, known as 5 + 5, has recently also agreed to ask all foreign troops in Libya to get out of the country.

Extending military presence

Erdogan’s extension of Turkish military presence in Libya aims at addressing his internal and external problems.

The Turkish president ordered units of his country’s army travel to Libya. He said this came in response to a request by the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).

Ankara, Erdogan said, would continue to offer all sorts of support to the GNA.

Evil intentions

Turkey goes through a tough economic crisis as its currency keeps losing value against all foreign currencies in a manner unprecedented in the history of this country hitherto.

It also expects to be the target of a new regime of European and American sanctions in the coming period.

According to Ali al-Takbali, a member of the eastern Libya parliament, Turkey tries to make up for the losses it is incurring by extending its presence in Libya and preventing the Libyan crisis from being resolved.

“It does this by sabotaging efforts to bring about a political solution to the Libyan crisis,” al-Takbali said.