A complicated game and intertwined strands: Facing Turkish intervention in Libya is decided by language of interests and distribution of influence

Shaima Yahya

Turkish interventions in the Libyan crisis have produced many negative repercussions on the internal, external and regional tracks, after Libya witnessed a state of political divisions recently since 2014; which resulted in the complexity of the scene at the international level, internally.

Likewise, the restoring of the Muslim Brotherhood government, supported by Qatar and Turkey on December 19, 2019, to requesting 5 countries, namely the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Italy, Algeria and Turkey to activate the security cooperation agreements, would increase the pressure on the regional and international countries.

All indications showed the continuation of the Libyan conflict, the state of internal chaos and the exacerbation of the crisis, and its distance from the path of political settlement, which is reflected in the international and regional role, as it will face difficulty in supporting the Libyan crisis and coming up with a solution, but the Libyan interior is still unable to produce political or military elites, helping to make a difference.

Turkish intervention

Turkish intervention created a major shift in the Libyan file, especially in the political and military conflict, after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding led by Fayez al-Sarraj, and Turkey was not far from the Libyan scene since the beginning of the divisions, as Turkey had an informal presence in the Libyan West, on the intelligence levels.

Turkey created its military intervention in Libya – after approval by the Turkish parliament – to escalate the situation internally, externally and regionally.

Ankara is trying to impose its influence on the region, especially its role in the conflict areas in the Mediterranean, as there is expansion towards the region, after its intervention was merely to support the military elites loyal to it, which was produced by political instability in the Arab world after 2011, the matter became under a legal framework.

European Union and the influence of Russia

The European Union countries imposed several paths to confront Turkish policies, whether in the Syrian north or in the Eastern Mediterranean region, especially as these areas are directly related to European security.

The European Union has agreed to lay down the legal framework for sanctions on Ankara to reduce the reversals of the Turkish agreement with the unconstitutional al-Wefaq government.

On the other hand, Russia has many interests, whether on the Syrian coast or inside the Libyan country, and Moscow wants to occupy the major international position in the movement of oil resource flows, and therefore, the Turkish presence in accordance with this agreement, negatively affects Russian interests.