Sarraj from Rome to Ankara to meet with Libyan militia leaders and Turkish officials

Fatima Abdul Ghani

International and regional efforts are being exerted to extricate Libya from its current crises and put it on the right track, but Turkey and Government of National Accord (GNA) head Fayez al-Sarraj seem as if they do not care about these efforts. Sarraj ended a visit to the Italian capital during which he met with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, and then went to Ankara to attend a meeting with Libyan militia leaders and Turkish officials.

The reports confirmed the presence of the most prominent Tripoli militia leaders, GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha, and GNA Minister of Defense Salah Eddine al-Namrush, in addition to Brotherhood leader Khaled al-Mishri. Meetings between Libyan parties and Turkish officials will take place, the goal of which, according to analysts, is to consolidate Turkish influence in Libya and impose a de facto policy despite any Libyan reconciliation that may lead to the formation of a national unity government.

This is in addition to information indicating that Ankara is disturbed by contacts that Egypt has held with some of the parties within the GNA that reject the Turkish escalation.

Turkey is also seeking, according to reports, to resolve internal disputes between the wings of the GNA militias, whose activities seem to be out of control, especially with the statements of Bashagha, who admitted his failure to dissolve the militias because they received support from figures and institutions in the GNA.

Bashagha said in an interview with AP on Friday evening that he intends to define the groups that must be disarmed and those that can be absorbed into the security services, but he faces problems in implementing that plan.

In addition, he explained that some groups are allied with other officials in Tripoli and control some institutions, such as the intelligence service, in reference to the Tripoli militias allied with Sarraj.

He also expressed his desire to assume the post of prime minister in the next authority that could result from the ongoing Libyan political dialogue forum.

It is noteworthy that several stations have previously shown the struggle of the GNA-affiliated militias over the institutions and powers in Tripoli, as well as the conflict between two wings within them, one affiliated with Sarraj and another with Bashagha.

According to observers, Turkey’s summoning of the Libyan parties comes to prepare for a new phase in its relations with the United States after the administration of President-elect Joe Biden came close to announcing the outlines of its policies in the Middle East and North Africa, which seem to be intolerant of Turkish interventions that undermine peace and security in the eastern Mediterranean or in Libya.

This comes in conjunction with Bashagha’s announcement of a military operation being prepared with Turkish support to target human smugglers and extremist armed groups in western Libya.

Bashagha called on Washington to help in this process, saying, “Turkey pledged to support us in the operation that we will carry out in the West, and we hope that America will help us to eliminate terrorist elements infiltrating Libya.”

Bashagha said that his hopes increased greatly after Biden’s victory in the elections, and he hopes that the new US administration will have a major role in stabilizing Libya and achieving reconciliation.

In this context, observers see that Turkey’s attempt to engage in this confrontation came to justify its presence in western Libya, whether for the new American administration or the European Union, as Ankara seeks to show itself as a supporter of stability and against terrorism, even by striking the militias, which were their allies in their battles against the Libyan National Army (LNA).

The Turkish regime is also trying, by participating in the war against terrorists and smugglers in western Libya, to solicit a supportive position from Biden’s administration to lift the sanctions imposed on his country for purchasing the Russian S-400 defense system. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also aims to restore bridges of communication with Washington and European capitals by relying on the Libyan card, as after he was heading east by beating the drums of war in the Sirte-Jafra Red Line region, he turned to western Tripoli to fight a battle under the pretext of combating terrorism and smuggling.