A power struggle is raging in Libya between General Haftar and the government in Tripoli. Turkish President Erdogan is now allowed to send troops to the civil war country to support them. The opposition warns of a “dangerous adventure”.
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The Turkish parliament has given the green light for a possible military intervention in the civil war-torn country of Libya. A majority of 325 MPs approved a mandate in Ankara on Thursday that allowed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to send Turkish soldiers to Libya for a year.
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184 parliamentarians voted against. Erdogan wants to support the internationally recognized government under Prime Minister Fajis al-Sarradsch in Tripoli. It fights a power struggle with the influential General Chalifa Haftar.
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The President is now entitled to decide on “the limit, extent, quantity and timing” of the posting “to carry out military operations and interventions if necessary”. It was initially unclear when Erdogan would use the permit.
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Approval was expected
Approval was expected since Erdogan’s Islamic-conservative AKP has a majority in the government alliance with the ultra-nationalist MHP in parliament. The majority of the opposition sharply criticized the project. The deputy party leader of the largest opposition party, CHP, Ünal Ceviköz, said in parliament that it was an “absurd and dangerous adventure”.
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There has been chaos in Libya since the downfall of long-term ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011. Haftar controls areas in the east of the country with his self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA), but wants power over the country. Last year he launched an attack on Tripoli, where the Sarraj government is located. Haftar is supported by Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), among others.
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Turkey’s interests threatened
Erdogan had said last week that al-Sarradsch asked to send troops to help him more effectively. The permission now issued states, among other things, to justify a possible deployment that the deteriorating situation in Libya is also threatening Turkey’s interests in the Mediterranean and North Africa.
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In addition to regional influence, Turkey is also concerned with raw materials in the region. Al-Sarradsch and Erdogan had already signed two controversial agreements in November: one on military cooperation, which includes, among other things, sending instructors. With a second agreement, Turkey and Libya set maritime borders in the Mediterranean – without the consent of other neighboring countries. Turkey is thus claiming an area in which rich natural gas deposits are suspected.
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Erdogan had said in his New Year’s address that the agreements had thwarted “projects aimed at completely excluding Turkey from the Mediterranean”.
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Germany is planning a Libya conference in Berlin at the beginning of the year to bring the most important international players together. Putin is expected to visit Turkey next Wednesday. Moscow and Ankara represent different positions not only in Libya, but also in Syria. (SDA)
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