Turkey flies Nusra Front fighters to Tripoli to protect Erdogan’s interests

Ali Ragab

Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari revealed terrorist banners, belong to Daesh and al-Qaeda, supporters have started to emerge in the capital Tripoli.

Addressing a press conference Friday, he vowed that the LNA, commanded by Khalifa Haftar, will expel the militias from Tripoli in order to restore stability, security and the authority of the state.

Moreover, he accused Turkey of meddling in the battle by sending al-Nusra Front extremists from Syria to the capital to combat the LNA.

In March 2018, the General Directorate of Counter-Terrorism of the Libyan Army announced that it had captured 16 fighters from Al-Nusra Front in an ambush while infiltrating into Libya through the southern desert of Kufra.

The directorate further revealed that one of the fighters was detained by the regime’s forces in Syria before being smuggled out of prison and sent to Turkey.

The Libyan capital is controlled by several terrorist militias supported by Qatar and Turkey, including the Tripoli Rebels Brigade and the Special Deterrent Force, led by terrorist Abdul Raouf Kara, in addition to other militias.

The Turkish support to terrorists in Libya has not been only limited to the supply of fighters, as in recent months, Turkish arms and explosives shipments to Libyan terrorists were seized by Greek authorities in early 2018.

Moreover, Libyan forces managed last December to bust a cargo shipment disguising as construction material, which after inspection turned out to be weapons and ammo.

Greek Coast Guards has announced that they seized a ship flying the flag of Tanzania and carrying materials used to make explosives while sailing to Libya.

The explosives cargo carried by the Tanzania-flagged freighter “Andromeda”. Greek authorities found “Andromeda” was carrying 29 crates of explosives and other materials used in bomb making.

On the Turkish territory there are a number of leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and armed militias who are protected by the Turkish regime, led by Abdul Hakim Belhadj, who was the emir of the defunct Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.

In July 2016, WikiLeaks revealed the nature of the Turkish role in the transfer of the funds of Belhaj in 2013, as he contacted a Turkish banker in the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to ask for help smuggling an estimated $15 million for a 25% commission.

Turkey has several objectives within Libya, mainly to control the Libyan economy, as there are currently about 120 Turkish companies operating in Libya; this is also considered a base for launching into the African continent.

Libyan affairs researcher Abdul Sattar Heteita told The Reference in an interview that Turkey has a wide range of goals in Libya, especially the economic side, in light of the economic recession that hit the Turkish economy and the fall of the Turkish Lira.

Moreover, according to Heteita, this also serves as a launching pad for further expansions by Qatar and Turkey in Africa, no to mention by supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Sudan.