President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who met for the Blue Stream gas pipeline opening ceremony in Istanbul, had both Syria and Libya on their agenda. One of the most important and expected outcomes of these meetings was the emphasis on the significance of dialogue and cooperation between Turkey and Russia in Libya, while a more concrete result was to call on involved parties to announce a ceasefire in Libya as of Jan. 12.
Both Turkey and Russia making this call was, without a doubt, invaluable in terms of the two countries’ demonstration of their good will, however, looking at the real situation on the ground, there was an element of strangeness in the call. Truth is, there are no symmetrical two sides fighting or attacking each other. On the contrary, there is an aggressor who is consistently in a state of attack, striving, with the air assault weapons he obtained through a coup, and foreign legionnaires gathered from here and there, against an administration that has been elected through legitimate procedures to represent the people of Libya and is recognized by the international community, to destroy this legitimate administration using asymmetrical power.
Meanwhile, the legitimate administration in Tripoli is busy defending itself, resisting against putschist retired Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s invasion of the country.
It is, in fact, more appropriate to send a strong warning to the aggressing side, ordering it to stop the aggression, rather than telling both sides to cease fire. Because, the Tripoli administration is doing nothing other than defending itself against the attacking side. Nonetheless, as it is unable to even do that fully, it requested help first from the UN, then Italy and Turkey. Neither the UN nor Italy answered the request, while Turkey responded in the affirmative to the legitimate administration in Libya, which it recognizes alongside the international community and has been continuing relations all along.
Haftar is an utter criminal in every aspect. He is a criminal against humanity, a war criminal, a war chief who steals Libya’s sources in the name of others and tries to get his own share out of it. He has no support from the Libyan public. The map said to be representational of his control in Libya shows that he has almost 90 percent of Libya compared to the legitimate government, but 95 percent of those areas are not urban terrain. Therefore, an air assault force is enough to take control over said areas.
The sources of Haftar’s aggressive occupying power are the financial support provided by the UAE and the logistical and military support provided by Egypt. Haftar, who has been massacring Libyans with financial and conspiracy support from the UAE, and the mercenaries he gathered from various African countries, does not have the slightest support of the Libyan nation. Not to mention, he is a U.S. citizen who fled to America and spent two decades there after being defeated and captured in a clash in Chad.
Therefore, it Is not possible to say there are two Libyan sides currently clashing in Libya, that are trying to get each other to accept their own theory because they are in dispute, that are trying to share Libya. As a matter of fact, there is an assailant, an aggressor force trying to take Libyan people’s land away from them by means of using the most disgusting and ruthless methods of invasion, while the Libyan people, who, despite trying to defend themselves are unable to do so on their own, have called on the civilized world, the modern, democratic international community that very much reveres human rights to help them.
The picture is this clear; the equation is this simple. Turkey’s place in this picture is the most moral, on the side of the oppressed, on the side of those whose rights have been deprived; Turkey’s place in this equation is the most ethical and most legitimate, as it is there upon their request. Nobody should have the audacity in such a situation to accuse or even criticize Turkey. Though, unfortunately, in this world, the shameless thrive; the bandits are striving to secure their control over the world.
Thus, while the legitimate Libyan administration, the Tripoli government was quick to give a positive response to Russia and Turkey’s joint call for ceasefire, putschist Gen. Haftar declared he does not recognize the call for ceasefire. Such a reaction was not surprising, because Haftar is blinded by the desire to take over Libya, and while doing this, he is unaware that he is further adding to his crimes.
His supporters, the UAE, France, and even Russia, are taking advantage of this bandit’s desire to take control over Libya. As a matter of fact, they will not allow him such glory. While they push him on the ground to perpetrate all the crimes himself, they are also making sure to keep a record of his files. Like all greedy figures that have been blinded by their ambitions, Haftar too thinks he is going to be able to take over Tripoli and thus control and rule Libya. Yet, even if he succeeds, they will not allow him to rule Libya. His sole role in this plot is to deactivate Libya’s legitimate administration, paving the way for his masters’ division of Libya.
Haftar has not one but several masters. As he is does not depend on his own people, he is open to all sorts of outside aid. Little does he know, this renders him miserably weak and spineless. His rejection of the ceasefire is not by his own will but by that of his masters. This is because they would certainly not want a helping hand to the rescue from Istanbul to ruin their plans just as they have reached the final phase of an investment they have been making for years.
Therefore, his masters are in a hurry to do whatever they can before Turkey comes to the rescue. They should in fact start to think about how they will save themselves from the crimes they are going to get Haftar to commit in this haste. Because the urgency that is pressing Haftar with Turkey on the ground is reflected on their faces as well now.
Are imperialists and those doing their dirty work and bidding not clear enough in this picture?
