Turkey’s war in Libya
Turkey had initially opposed NATO's intervention in the uprising against
Moammar Gadhafi's regime in Libya to prevent France from playing a
prominent role.
But within a month, Turkey gave NATO the green light and
allowed Izmir to become the command center of the NATO operation. Now,
Ankara is griping about foreign intervention in
Libya.
Of course, this attitude is not prompted by the foreign policy
principle of maintaining neutrality.
On the contrary, Turkey has not
abandoned its policies that are dragging it into a war of proxies
because of its backing of the Muslim Brotherhood. On one side Egypt,
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have joined forces to squash
the Muslim Brotherhood and on the other side are Turkey and Qatar. Sudan
has joined the
Qatar-Turkey bloc by playing a role in Qatari weapons shipments to Libyan Dawn, a superstructure of militia forces dominating Tripoli.
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in Ankara
categorically rejects accusations that it is taking sides in Libya and
working only with the Muslim Brotherhood. But Ankara’s reading of the
political developments in Libya and its views about the parties there
immediately brings Ankara to one side.
For one thing, the AKP government
is not hiding its support for the Tripoli-based General National
Congress (GNC) and the Omar al-Hassi government — which is not
recognized by the international community — against the House of
Representatives and the government of Abdullah al-Thinni.
When "Operation Dignity" led by retired Gen. Khalifa Hifter, who
represents the military front of the House of Representatives and the
Thinni government, bombed on Nov. 24-25 Tripoli's Mitiga International
Airport under the control of rival militias, Turkey's Foreign Ministry
commented: "
We strongly condemn the airstrikes.
The crisis in Libya can be resolved only by ceasing foreign
interventions, reaching a cease-fire and a comprehensive political
dialogue.”
The language used by the government-controlled
media in Turkey,
including the national news agency Anadolu, sheds light on how one side
is favored. The government media has persistently referred to Hifter,
who has declared war on Islamic organizations in Tripoli that control
Benghazi and against the Muslim Brotherhood and the GNC that is
supported by militias from Misrata, as a “putschist” or “coup-plotting
general.” To understand the position of the AKP government it suffices
to follow reporting by the semi-official
Anadolu news agency.
In October, when Hifter declared Turks in Libya as "unwanted
persons," and even took some of them hostage, there was an interesting
diplomatic demarche from Ankara. Emrullah Isler, the special envoy of
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, went to Libya and
met with various parties, first in Tobruk and then in Tripoli.
Government sources cited this move as a demonstration of Turkey’s
neutrality. But the answer by the "Hassi government" when asked which is
the legitimate government in Libya is clear, especially after the
decision of Libya's Constitutional Court that found the June 25
elections illegal and invalid.
A government source in Ankara, who did not want to be identified,
told Al-Monitor: “There is an ongoing perception that shows Turkey as
backing radical groups. Turkey doesn’t take sides in Libya. We meet with
all parties. When Emrullah Isler went to Libya as special envoy of
President Erdogan he first met in Tobruk with Thinni and then with the
Hassi government in Tripoli. He offered assistance to end their
political rifts. Thinni asked Turkish Airlines to fly to Tobruk.
When
reminded that Turks have been declared 'unwanted persons,' Thinni said
that was an unacceptable attitude and called Hifter to end his hostile
attitude against Turkey. If Turkey had
taken sides or ended dialogue with one of the parties, then the nine Turkish hostages would not have been released.”
True, Turkey had engaged Thinni in a dialogue in Tobruk, but
meanwhile Isler became the first high-level foreign guest ever hosted by
the Hassi government. Turkish envoy Isler labeled the contacts of UN
special envoy Bernardino Leon in Tripoli — in the aftermath of the
Constitutional Court ruling that annulled the elections — as "
coming closer to Turkey’s position,"
overlooking Leon’s comment “We will study the ruling” and his
addressing Thinni as prime minister. Because of his position Leon has to
meet with both sides.
Ankara, which had first agreed Thinni to dispatch a charge d’affaires
from Tobruk to Turkey, reversed its decision after the ruling of the
Constitutional Court. A Turkish government official told Al-Monitor on
condition of anonymity when asked whether Turkey recognizes the
Tobruk government
(recognized by the UN) or the Tripoli government, “The Constitutional
Court abrogated the assembly in Tobruk. That decision determines who is
legitimate.”
It is interesting to see how the AKP government that challenges the rulings of Turkey’s Constitutional Court as “
not national” gives credence to a ruling by the Libyan Constitutional Court that functions in extraordinary circumstances under the
rule of guns.
Although
Erdogan’s tough stance
that convening of the House of Representatives elected on June 25 in
Tobruk instead of Tripoli is unacceptable and was promoted as a Turkish
warning against a division of Libya, it did place Turkey clearly on one
side of the argument. While even the UN is cautiously engaged in the
debate on the Constitutional Court ruling and the
debate on legitimacy, Ankara's taking a position of supporting one side’s claim is narrowing the diplomatic maneuvering room of Turkey.
Source: Al Monitor
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