Political and Military Objectives of the Turkish Intervention in Libya Exposed

The pro-Qatar and political Islam mainstream media, the New Arab, quoted an informed Libyan source who said that the parliamentary session of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) on 2 January aims to achieve field progress, with direct military support from Turkey, for the forces aligned with the Government of National Accord (GNA), before the Foreign Ministers of France, Italy and Germany arrive in Tripoli on 7 January, accompanied by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The anonymous source quoted by the newspaper revealed that the goal of preceding the three European ministers’ scheduled visit to the Libyan capital is to change the situation on the ground in Tripoli in an effort to reduce the anticipated EU pressure on the Tripoli government and improve its negotiation stance.

The report said that “Turkey plans to set up a military foothold before an upcoming meeting of three EU foreign ministers and Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in Tripoli. Turkey’s decision to deploy troops to Libya could give Ankara a strategic advantage in the Libyan quagmire.”

The second objective, according to the report is to enable the Government of Tripoli to face the decision issued by the Council of the League of Arab today, which called for a halt to the fighting and non-interference in Libya’s external affairs. Turkey wishes also to reduce the influence of the geopolitical rivals who back the Libyan National Army (LNA).

The source revealed that Turkey, after coordination with the GNA, decided to develop a rapid intervention plan based on air strikes carried out by squadrons of Turkish fighters, including F-16, and 27 targets were identified for the forces of the “retired Major General Khalifa Haftar” (the LNA Commander-in-Chief) including targets in the eastern and southern regions of Libya, which would also be subject to the first air strike.

The New Arab claimed that LNA Commander in Chief Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar refused to speak to Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu according to Turkish media reports today.

The New Arab further revealed that Turkish drones, some of which have recently been deployed to the Turkish Gecitkale Air Base in Northern Cyprus, and other helicopters will provide air power for “the forces Government of National Accord (GNA) in the vicinity of the capital,” in addition to other cities in Western Libya to break the cordon imposed by LNA forces and allow the GNA forces to launch a massive ground counter attack against LNA concentrations that may reach, if it succeeded, the Oil Crescent region.