The continuation of Turkish military presence in Libya and many uncertainties

According to the international group news agency Tasnim, at the request of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and with the direct vote of parliamentarians, the permission for the presence of Turkish military in Libya was extended again.

Erdogan Based on Article 92 of the Turkish Constitution, it requested the parliament to extend the permission of the country’s army to stay in Libya for 24 months from January 2, 2024.

Turkey had previously announced which has sent its military to this country in order to help establish peace and stability in Libya. But later, we saw a lot of security fringes from Erdogan’s team in Libya.

It was even revealed that a group of armed opponents of Bashar al-Assad, who were Syrian Turkmens, were trained, armed and paid. Rights were sent to Libya from Turkey.

Some of them fled through the Mediterranean and sea routes and even reached Italy, that is, the same country that once had Libya as a colony. blessed, had occupied Now, several years have passed since the NATO attack and the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s authority, and the internal conflicts have subsided. But the Turkish military is still in Libya.

Now it can be clearly seen that the presence of the Turkish army in Libya has gone beyond the usual excuses to maintain peace and strategic steps such as military and security training to the Libyan army and police, it is indicative of Turkey’s special strategy in this African country. /1402/09/10/1402091016364718528884714.jpg”/>

So far, more than 1,500 Libyan officers in Turkey and 2,500 of them in Libyan territory and in the base Turkish military are trained. But in the field of industry and trade, Turkey has received great wealth.

In the past few years, dozens of Turkish engineering-civil, medical-sanitary and contracting companies in various fields Libya have started working and now an important part of the construction projects of residential complexes, roads, gas facilities, water and chain stores in Libya is in the hands of Turkish contractors.

Erdogan’s strange essay about justifying his presence in Libya

in the text of Erdogan’s request to the Turkish Parliament Regarding the extension of the military presence of the Turkish army in Libya, words and phrases are included that are often propaganda. It is necessary to stay in Libya with the Memorandum of Understanding on the Limitation of Maritime Jurisdiction Areas in the Mediterranean Sea signed between Turkey and Libya. Because this presence will guarantee the ceasefire and help political talks in Libya and the process leading to peace. Establishment and stability are of great importance to Turkey, and Turkey contributes to the stability of Libya by providing educational and advisory support.

Erdoğan said: “According to the important considerations, within the framework of international laws, all kinds of security threats and risks against Turkey’s national interests should be taken to take all precautionary measures.” To eliminate attacks that may be carried out against Turkish interests in Libya by illegal armed groups and terrorist organizations, as well as to prevent mass migration., ensuring maintaining our national security against other possible threats, providing humanitarian aid needed by the Libyan people, continued Supporting Libya’s government of national unity, it is necessary for our military to remain in this country and to protect Turkey’s best interests in the developments that may occur after this process. It is necessary to use these forces in compliance with the principles determined by the president, to eliminate risks and threats and to create security measures”.

As we can see, in the two paragraphs above, the President of Turkey He presented a long list of reasons to show how important it is for Turkish soldiers to stay in Libya. But objective evidence shows that among all the above, what is most important and realistic is maintaining the special relations between Ankara and the government of national unity with Brotherhood tendencies in Libya. In order to maintain this Libyan political institution, Ankara, in addition to showing its strength against Khalifa Haftar and others, has also had disagreements with Russia and Egypt.

Turkey Parliament’s meaningful response to the continuation of military presence in Libya

The People’s Republic Party led by Özgur Ozel known as the most important opposition party to Erdogan, voted against Erdogan’s request to continue his presence in Libya. It is known in the parliament, firmly rejected Erdogan’s request. These two parties had already voted against the continuation of Turkish military presence in Syria and Iraq and evaluated Turkey’s military interventions to the detriment of this country and also to the detriment of the region.

Namq Tan from Diplomat The old leaders of Turkey and one of the leaders of the People’s Republic Party, in his speech in the parliament and against the extension of the Turkish military presence in Libya, announced: “Erdogan’s government’s claim about the defense of national and patriotic interests in Libya is a complete lie. Along with some of his party and domestic policies, Erdogan is looking for dramatic actions in Libya. In our opinion, it is not legitimate for Turkey to send Turkish soldiers outside the United Nations. Erdogan’s government claimed that these soldiers remained in Libya to protect our (blue homeland). Such a claim is not true and staying in Libya is not in the best interests of our army and people.”

In addition to the Justice and Development Party led by Erdogan, the National Movement Party led by the Baghçeli government The Saadat party led by Temel Karameloglu and the Good party led by Meral Aksner voted in favor of the two-year extension of the Turkish army’s presence in Libya, and this request was approved by the parliament.

The Turkish army now has bases and military presence in 3 African countries, Libya, Mali, and Somalia, and some diplomats are in favor of showing Turkey’s military power in Africa and the Mediterranean.

Olouch Ozavalkar, the former ambassador of Turkey in Libya, believes that Turkey has been too late and must have a military presence in Libya. Because the secret of Turkey’s power increase against Cyprus, Greece and Israel is that Turkey has a strong presence in the eastern Mediterranean and the coast of Africa. , believes that the military presence in Libya is directly related to the regional competition between Turkey and Greece. Because Greece and Egypt have a maritime security agreement, and if Turkey does not have continuous communication with Libya, it will lose its regional power.

Over the past years, many political think tanks Under the orders of the Justice and Development Party, including Setav and Orsam, which have a direct relationship with the government and the intelligence service, they have tried to justify Turkey’s military presence in Libya in various ways. But Erdogan’s opponents believe that this is not a national issue and has a deep connection with the Justice and Development Party’s attitude towards the Egyptian, Tunisian, and Libyan Brotherhoods.

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