International reports reveal Erdogan’s plans to turn Libya into pandemic country

Amira Sherif

The interactive map issued by the company International SOS revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned Libya into one of the most dangerous countries for security and health, and that Turkish policies in Libya have upended the country’s scales, warning against visiting Libya next year.

The interactive map classified the safety and security of countries into three categories: security risks, medical risks, and the threat of the corona virus. Media reports stated that Erdogan took advantage of the corona crisis and the preoccupation of the countries active in the Libyan file in confronting the pandemic, sending mercenaries from places infected with the virus.

Lindsey Snell, an American journalist who specializes in covering humanitarian crises and conflicts, explained that the collapse of the health system was not the only reason for the rapid spread of the corona virus in western Libya, but rather that the Syrian mercenaries whom Turkey flooded Libya with in 2020 contributed greatly to the outbreak of the corona pandemic in the country, amid the absence of testing and isolation tools for suspected infections, according to the report.

Snell confirmed on her Twitter account that Misrata in western Libya is the epicenter of the corona pandemic in Libya, due to the influx of mercenaries from Turkey carrying the virus and working to spread and transmit it among the Libyans.

In this context, a report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Libya announced the exacerbation of the effects of corona in Libya, due to the ongoing conflict, lack of internal security, and the political and economic crisis. It expressed regret that the guidelines of the World Health Organization and medical and health institutions to stay at home in an attempt to combat the pandemic unfortunately represents a luxury for the 392,000 Libyans who remain displaced.

The report explained that the lack of basic services and the continuous power outages affect the water supply for more than a third of the Libyan population in the northwestern parts of the country, and therefore it is not easy for people to practice simple but necessary measures, such as washing hands frequently to protect themselves from the corona virus. The United Nations in Libya helped provide fast, cost-effective and life-saving services, it added, noting that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, since the beginning of the pandemic, developed immediate preparedness and response plans with the Libyan government and partners with a total funding of $46.7 million, while also strengthening coordination between UN agencies and international and local NGOs.

The report pointed to some salient points in the efforts of the United Nations to deal with the virus and its impact in Libya, pointing out that WHO provided the national laboratory with equipment for personal protection and diagnostic kits and supported the Ministry of Health with the latest information about laboratory tests and dealing with suspected cases. It also supports the National Center for Disease Control to develop a national guidelines on preparedness and Ministry of Health guidelines on maintaining quality of services.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had revealed that the total number of mercenaries sent by Turkey to Libya amounted to 18,000 Syrians, in addition to 2,500 Tunisians, confirming that the total number of mercenaries who were killed in the battles in Libya amounted to 496 people, as well as injuring and losing contact with hundreds of other elements who Turkish intelligence turned into mercenaries by luring them in for a large fee.

According to the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management in Misrata, the city recorded a dangerous upward curve for the spread of the virus, topping Tripoli and the list of cities where the corona pandemic has spread.

In June, WHO officials expressed their concern about the rapid spread of the corona virus in Libya through the Syrian mercenaries who were transported there by Turkey.

Although Ankara caused the outbreak of the corona virus in Libya and its leaders drained tens of millions of dollars from the wealth of the Libyan people, Turkish hospitals closed their doors to Libyan citizens.

Atef Barqiq, leader of the Tripoli Revolutionaries Militia residing in Turkey and appointed by Government of National Accord (GNA) head Fayez al-Sarraj as an administrative advisor at the Libyan Health Attaché in Ankara, called on Libyans who want treatment abroad to avoid the Turkish arena until the debt owed from hospitals in Turkey is settled.

A leaked document from the Health Office of the GNA embassy in Ankara also revealed that Turkish hospitals refused to treat security personnel and militias affiliated with the GNA in Tripoli.

Turkey threatened the GNA to stop treating and sheltering the wounded in the military operations against the army, in case the accumulated debts in favor of its hospitals are not paid.