Turkish troops begin mobilisation in Libya

(Patria) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of mobilisation of Turkish military forces in Libya, in a mission to support the government in Tripoli.

Erdogan took this step after the Turkish parliament voted in favour of the mobilisation proposal, as well as following new airstrikes on Tripoli by General Khalifa Haftar, who has been attempting to overthrow the government by military means since April last year.

Erdogan told Turkish CNN on Sunday that troops were already on their way to Libya.

- Our military duty (in Libya) is coordination. We will open an operations centre. Our soldiers are already gradually leaving for Libya, said the Turkish president.

However, this move by the Turkish government risks confrontation with other regional actors in this complex conflict who support Haftar, specifically Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

On the ground (and on Haftar's side) there are also Russian mercenaries who allegedly enjoy the support of the Russian president. As such, Putin tried to dissuade Erdogan from sending troops to Libya.

European powers have long failed to successfully mediate a halt to the bloody conflict in Libya, between the east and west of the country. The last such attempt was the Berlin conference, which was not even realised because regional actors could not agree on the purpose of such a gathering and the list of participants.  

The mobilisation of Turkish forces was accelerated by the intensified military operations of Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) in Tripoli, as well as the fatal airstrikes on the Hadaba military academy in which 30 people lost their lives, while 33 were injured.

The government in Tripoli, recognised by the UN, requested an emergency session of the UN Security Council to condemn Haftar's attacks as a war crime.

The US Embassy in Libya last weekend called for an end to 'toxic foreign interference in Libya', citing 'the arrival of Syrian fighters backed by Turkey as well as the mobilisation of Russian mercenaries'.

The United Arab Emirates believe that Islamist paramilitary formations, which they consider terrorists, form the backbone of the government's military support. At the same time, the government in Tripoli, disappointed by the lack of European support, insists on its democratic orientation in the fight against Haftar, who is a proven war criminal, writes the British Guardian.