Erdogan scandals continue in Libya;  crisis-solving conferences go in vain

Mouaz Mohammad

The scandals of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are still going on, following his confession, on Saturday, February 22, 2020, that there are dead people in Tripoli, and that he has killed  and wounded about 100 people.

In addition, it seems that all conferences held to end the Libyan crisis will not help, especially in light of the breach of the armistice by Al-Wefaq militias, and the failure of the two parties to reach a permanent ceasefire.

Useless Berlin conference

Bogdanov said on Wednesday 26 February 2020, in his speech at the Russian Social Chamber,: “The text of the United Nations draft resolution on Libya did not mention terrorists and foreign fighters although a group of UN Security Council experts regularly report their transfer of terrorists to Libya and this is happening with the help of Turkey. ”

According to the Russian TASS agency, quoting Bogdanov, Moscow does not see an indication of the willingness of the warring parties in Libya to implement the military and political decisions, which were reached at the Berlin conference, in January 2020.

The Russian foreign minister added that the truce declared by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, commander of the Libyan National Army, and Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Al-Wefaq government, on January 12th are generally held.

Meanwhile, on February 26, 2020, the Libyan National Army announced the shooting down of a third Turkish airliner in less than 24 hours, after taking off from the Turkish base at Maitika airport.

The announcement came after the Libyan air defenses shot down a “Bayrakdar” drones plane south of the capital, Tripoli, while it was trying to raid the army’s positions.

This comes as Major General Ahmed Al-Mesmari, the official spokesman for the Libyan army, announced on Monday, February 24, that the terrorist militias reinforced with elements of the Turkish army penetrate the armistice, targeting civilian neighborhoods south of the capital Tripoli with heavy artillery.

All parties participating in the Berlin conference on the Libyan crisis, including Ankara, January 20, 2020, reached a final statement, which stipulated respect for the arms embargo to Libya and non-interference in the affairs of the Arab country, but Turkey did not respect the terms of the conference.

In addition, the Turkish President violated his international obligations, a few days after the conference, by sending more mercenaries to Tripoli. So, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed, on Tuesday, January 21, 2020, that the number of mercenaries who moved to Libya reached about 2,600; stressing that the process of registering the names of those wishing to go there continues in Afrin and the areas of the “Euphrates Shield” and north-eastern Syria, in large part.

Geneva Conference: Parties did not attend

Also Wednesday, February 26, 2020, the activities of the Geneva Conference on the crisis in Libya were launched, without the participation of the parties to the conflict, “Haftar and Al-Sarraj.”

The United Nations Mission in Tripoli confirmed on Tuesday, February 25, that the Libyan political dialogue in Geneva will start as scheduled, despite the announcement by the parties to the conflict to suspend their participation.

It is worth noting that the dialogue was supposed to include 13 representatives of the Libyan parliament supporting “Haftar”, as well as those from the State Council, “Al-Saraj Wing”, in addition to figures who received an invitation from the United Nations envoy.