January 18, 2020
By Daren Butler
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has called on
Europe to support its work in Libya, where it is providing military
support to the internationally recognised government, if it wants to end
the conflict there.
Erdogan made his remarks in a column published on the Politico
website on Saturday, ahead of a summit in Berlin on Sunday that will try
to stabilise the country.
At the meeting, Germany and the United Nations will push rival Libyan
camps fighting over the capital, Tripoli, to agree to a truce and
monitoring mechanism as first steps towards peace, diplomats and a draft
communique said.
Turkey supports the government of Fayez al-Serraj in Tripoli and
describes Khalifa Haftar, who heads the eastern Libyan National Army
(LNA), as a coup plotter.
“Keeping in mind that Europe is less interested in providing military
support to Libya, the obvious choice is to work with Turkey, which has
already promised military assistance,” Erdogan wrote.
“We will train Libya’s security forces and help them combat
terrorism, human trafficking and other serious threats against
international security,” he added.
As the summit loomed, the Turkish president spoke by phone with its
host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to discuss developments in Libya
and the region, Erdogan’s office said.
In a sign of tensions surrounding the Libyan issue, Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticised Greece for hosting Haftar ahead of
the summit in a tweet directed at Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.
“Inviting Haftar to Greece and highlighting Greek national agenda
sabotage the efforts to bring peace to Libya. We would like to remind
our Greek friends that these futile efforts are in vain. @NikosDendias,”
Cavusoglu wrote.
Sunday’s summit will put pressure on Haftar and the LNA to halt a
nine-month offensive against Tripoli after a week-long lull in fighting.
But it will not try to broker power-sharing between the two sides, said
diplomats briefed on preparations.
Haftar and Serraj are both due in Berlin – along with Erdogan and the
leaders of Russia, Egypt and other Western and Arab powers. Libya has
been in turmoil since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Erdogan said that if Libya’s legitimate government were to fall,
Islamist militant groups such as Islamic State and al Qaeda “will find a
fertile ground to get back on their feet”.
Haftar is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Sudanese
and Chadian fighters, and most recently Russian mercenaries. France has
also given some support.
On the other side, Turkey has supported Serraj by sending troops to
balance out recent gains by Russian snipers. Hundreds of pro-Turkey
fighters from Syria’s war have also been deployed, diplomats say.
