Erdogan and Brotherhood: A malicious relationship continues to topple Libya

Asmaa el-Sherif

Amid regional and international outrage over Turkish interference in Libyan affairs, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to send military forces to the Libyan Accord government to support the militias of Tripoli, the Turkish parliament Thursday voted to accept that.

Erdogan’s support for the Al-Wefaq government indicates Ankara’s collusion with the terrorist Brotherhood’s project and achieves its strategic and expansionist goals, along with Erdogan’s achievement of his colonial aims in the Middle East.

Ankara is using the Brotherhood as a card to achieve its expansionist ambitions, as widely reported facts indicate that the Turkish project took Libya as a new stage to implement its own agendas.

Observers believe that Turkey is proceeding with its plans to support the Tripoli militias and fuel the conflict and divisions in the country, a scenario similar to what has been happening in Syria for years, as Ankara has made the Free Syrian Army an agent in the region.

Erdogan’s diabolical intentions became clearer after his proposal to establish what he called the safe zone, which some considered a plan to impose his hegemony in northern Syria, and achieve his strategic goals.

To that, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, affirmed that non-Arab military interventions in the Arab territories remain totally unacceptable from Arab countries.

Aboul Gheit said: “The university’s decision regarding developments in Libya reflects an Arab stance rejecting interventions that exacerbate crises, complicate them and prolong their duration.”

The council expressed “grave concern” over the military escalation, which exacerbates the crisis in Libya, stressing “the need to stop the military conflict.”

Several countries, especially those that have borders with Libya, warned that Turkish military intervention in Libya would exacerbate the conflict in the country and destabilize the region’s security.

For its part, the Republican People’s Party, the main opposition party in Turkey, has made it clear that it will vote against the draft, saying it will implicate Turkey in yet another conflict and make it a party to the “bloodshed of Muslims”.

The party called on Erdogan’s government to search for a diplomatic solution in Libya. However, Erdogan’s ruling party is in alliance with a nationalist party, and the two have enough votes to pass the bill.

The Al-Wefaq government headed by Fayez al-Sarraj had requested military support from Turkish President Erdogan.

Erdogan and several officials on his team have more than once confirmed their commitment to support the reconciliation government against the Libyan army.

The memoranda of understanding signed by Erdogan and Fayez al-Sarraj is an excuse that Turkey uses to control oil and natural resources of Libya.

Erdogan said last week that his country had received a request from the Libyan government for reconciliation to send troops to Libya, adding, with determination, “We will do it!”.

He also added, “We support the reconciliation government against the Libyan army by all means.” He continued, “It will be agreed to send troops to Libya,” stressing that “our agreement with Al-Wefaq entered into full effect and was written down in the records of the United Nations.”

Fouad Oktay, the Turkish Vice-President, announced on Wednesday January 1 that Ankara may refrain from sending troops to Libya if the Libyan National Army stopped its attack on Tripoli, adding that “after the parliament passed the bill it might happen that we see something different … a different position. They say well we will withdraw and stop the attack.”

He considered that Ankara hopes that the Turkish bill will send a message of “deterrence to the warring parties”, and the Libyan army and parliament have repeatedly stressed that the military agreement signed with Tripoli is illegal and considered blatant interference and infringement on Libyan sovereignty.

The Turkish official’s statements came after the Libyan army confirmed more than once that it would not retreat from the battle of Tripoli before liberating the Libyan capital from the militias that he described as terrorist.

The Turkish statement also coincided with notable advances of the army during the past days in the battle, especially south of Tripoli.

According to media reports, including the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Turkey has already started transferring Syrian fighters from the factions loyal to them in northern Syria to the Libyan capital.

In the most recent of these reports, French radio “RFI” reported, on Wednesday, that a large number of Syrian fighters arrived in Libya via unregistered flights, indicating that 4 planes carrying Syrian fighters from the pro-Ankara brigades landed in the Libyan airport of Maitika on Friday and Sunday.