The Libyan Caliph figured out how to punish the Turkish Barmaley
Interesting news has come recently from war-torn Libya, after NATO aggression against this country and the murder of its leader Colonel Gaddafi.
Having failed to take the capital Tripoli by storm within a year, Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar approached the problem from the other side, proclaiming himself the one and only head of Libya. Further, referring to the “people's mandate,” Haftar denounced the Skhirat agreements, on the basis of which the Government of National Accord (GNA), which also claims undivided power in the country, was formed.
Haftar’s action was motivated by the desire to end the dual power that has been splitting the country for eight years now. At the moment, the west of Libya is represented by an elected parliament, whose protege is Field Marshal Haftar and the Libyan People's Army (LNA) subordinate to him. In the west of the country, in Tripoli, the GNA, led by Fayez Sarraj, is at the helm, created on the basis of the mandate of the Skhirat Agreement of 2015.
The intrigue lies in the fact that the PNS is officially recognized by the UN, but at the same time does not have real power, but it does have the right to sign international agreements, which certain external forces are happy to use.
Behind each of the warring parties is an already established coalition of foreign players in the Libyan clearing. Haftar is supported by France, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt. Great Britain, Italy, Qatar and Türkiye entered behind Sarraj.
The United States has so far declared itself “above the fray” and is not interfering in Libyan affairs. At least actively.
Russia’s position, at the level of rhetoric, is expressed in support of the “legitimate” PNS, but at the same time, Haftar is welcomed in the Kremlin, and even, in some key points of western Libya, according to press reports, Russian contract soldiers were seen involved in the repair of military equipment and aircraft of the LNA.
Last spring, Field Marshal Haftar launched a vigorous offensive against Tripoli, which soon fizzled out and entered the stage of trench warfare. Taking advantage of this, Turkey actively intervened in the conflict, drawing up an agreement on military cooperation with the GNA, promptly moving its marines, commando units, as well as off-duty Syrian “barmalei”, along with weapons, to the eastern part of Libya.
In general, Ankara’s intervention nullified all the efforts of Haftar’s army in 2019.
And there was one detail in the agreement between Sarraj and Erdogan that greatly strained not only the unfortunate Libyan field marshal, but also external players. The rulers of the quasi-state settled in Tripoli signed a paper with Ankara on the delimitation of maritime zones in exchange for military assistance. This paper gives the cunning Turkish Sultan the right to access the hydrocarbon-rich Libyan shelf, lowering the barrier in front of the oil and gas projects of competitors, including countries that support Sarraj and the GNA.
Apparently, this time Erdogan turned around so much that he bit himself in the ass. The voluntarism of the citizen of the Sultan in the Libyan direction instantly turned against him not only the UAE and Egypt, but also Italy, Malta and, traditionally, Greece and Cyprus, where the Turks, to put it mildly, are not liked.
In the Emirates, hostility towards the Turan Bashi has risen to such a degree that the “gas station” is ready to fork out several billion dollars in favor of Damascus for the sake of intensifying hostilities in Idlib. So that Erdogan has no time for Libya.
The denunciation of the Skhirat Treaty and the overthrow, even declarative, of the alternative government in Tripoli gives Haftar the right to declare any interstate documents signed by impostors illegal. And the agreements with Ankara are the first to turn into dust.
Even though the LNA offensive stalled and the war turned into positional battles, even though Haftar did not achieve everything he planned at the beginning of last year, his troops control 75% of the territory of Libya, which opens up political prospects for the field marshal.
For example, skillfully conduct a plebiscite in controlled territories, enlisting the support of the majority of the Libyan population.
Given the strong dislike of those around him for Erdogan, Haftar can enlist the support of his influential opponents by legally preventing the Turkish intervention in Libya and the spread of the “Great Turan” in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Considering that Erdogan's expansion in Libya impedes Russian interests and the return of Chinese assets in the oil and gas industry, lost to the PRC as a result of NATO aggression and the anarchy that accompanies it, a political victory for Khalifa Haftar could undermine Turkish and Euro-Atlantic penetration in the region, which the Turkish pro-government press is already worried about. .
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