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Turkey Starts Military Deployment in Libya as International Pressure Rises

Dorian Jones

   ISTANBUL - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Monday that
   Turkish forces would do their duty in Libya after being deployed to
   support the country's besieged Government of National Accord.

   On Sunday, Erdogan confirmed the start of a military deployment to
   Libya.

   "There will be an operation center [in Libya]. There will be a Turkish
   lieutenant general leading, and they will be managing the situation
   over there. [Turkish soldiers] are gradually moving there right now,"
   said Erdogan. "The goal of the Turkish Armed Forces is not to fight,
   but to ensure a cease-fire in Libya."

   The GNA is currently under siege by forces led by Libyan GeneralKhalif
   Haftar, who controls eastern Libya. Last month, the Turkish Parliament
   sanctioned the deployment of military forces to Libya, following
   Erdogan's November signing of a military cooperation agreement with the
   GNA.

   Ankara also agreed to a maritime agreement with Tripoli that extends
   Turkish control over a critical part of the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

   Turkey is currently embroiled in an increasingly bitter competition
   with regional countries in the search for hydrocarbons across the
   Mediterranean Sea. The rivalry is now extending to control over the
   distribution of natural gas.

   "It's a very strategic move by Turkey to stop the emerging blocks by
   countries like Israel, Greece, Egypt against Turkey," said
   international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara's Middle East
   Technical University. "The deployment of Turkish troops to Libya is
   legitimate. Strategically speaking, it's about survival -- will Turkey
   be in the eastern Mediterranean or not?"

   There are growing questions over the sustainability of Ankara's Libya
   move.

   "All these developments have been outright rejected by the
   international community and countries in the region without exception,"
   said political scientist Cengiz Aktar of Athens University. "So, Turkey
   is pretty alone in this venture."

   Mounting diplomatic pressure

   Ankara is facing growing diplomatic pressure over its Libya plans.
   German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed Libya with Erdogan by phone
   on Monday. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump advised caution to
   the Turkish president.

   Cairo, which is backing Haftar, condemned Ankara, and warned of
   consequences in any Turkish military cooperation. Erdogan is likely to
   face further pressure Wednesday when he meets Russian President
   Vladimir Putin in Istanbul. Russian mercenaries of the Russian
   paramilitary organization the Wagner Group, which has close ties to the
   Kremlin, are backing Haftar.

   Analysts warn that Ankara's decision to militarily back the beleaguered
   Tripoli regime could predicate its demise.

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