Turkey enters Libya battle

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday opened the way for direct Turkish military intervention in Libya, announcing a parliamentary vote in early January on sending troops to support the UN-backed Tripoli government against strongman Khalifa Haftar.

“We will present the motion to send troops (to Libya) as soon as parliament resumes” on January 7, Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara. “God willing, we will pass it in parliament on January 8-9 and thus respond to an invitation” from the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), he said.

Erdogan’s comments come after the Turkish parliament on Saturday ratified a security and military cooperation deal with the GNA of Fayez al-Sarraj. That agreement, which came into force yesterday, allows Ankara to send military and security personnel to Libya for training purposes, according to Turkish officials.

But a separate motion is needed to send boots on the ground. The Turkish parliament in October passed another motion to deploy troops in Iraq and Syria for another year. The Turkish leader has in recent weeks vowed to increase military support to the GNA if needed as it battles Haftar, who launched an offensive in April to seize the capital.

Erdogan on Wednesday paid an unannounced visit to Tunisia with his defence minister and spy chief to discuss ways of reaching a ceasefire in Libya.

Ankara has also signed a separate maritime jurisdiction agreement with the GNA -- which has drawn international criticism especially from Greece, as part of its efforts to establish itself as a key player in the exploitation of hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean.

‘Helping a warlord’

Pro-GNA militias and Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army are vying for control of the North African country. Erdogan has said Haftar’s forces are backed by Russian security company Wagner but Moscow has denied this.

“They are helping a warlord. We are responding to an invitation from the legitimate government of Libya,” Erdogan said yesterday. “That is our difference.” Asked about Ankara’s plans to send troops to Libya, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “unlikely that the interference of third parties in this situation could contribute to a settlement.”

He added: “But any attempt by third countries to contribute directly to solving the problem and to help the parties to the conflict find a solution is always welcome.” Ankara is likely to send an elite joint contingent to Libya, Can Kasapoglu, director of security and defence research programme at the EDAM thinktank in Istanbul, wrote in a policy paper this week.

The initial group could include special forces along with military intelligence and liaison officers, he commented.