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Turkey will never leave Libyans to the mercy of putschists and legionnaires

The fall of Tarhuna yesterday ushered in a new era in Libya. One day before that, Tripoli Airport, which was long under the control of putschist Khalifa Haftar and through which he had control over the entire Libyan airspace, also fell. Both of these are great military victories. Behind each of these successful operations are visuals of the destruction of the high-technology weapons that were obtained from Russia and France with the financing provided by United Arab Emirates (UAE), or the spectacular stories of their capture. Of course, Turkey’s UAVs or UCAVs and the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and National Intelligence Organization’s (MİT) mind, bravery and support take the lead role in all these images and stories.

If you are following the news you already know, the support Turkey has been providing the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) has changed all balances on the ground. Former putschist Gen. Haftar, who was backed by the UAE, France, Egypt, and Russia until recently, had sieged Tripoli, the center of Libya’s legitimate government, all the way to the suburb where the administration headquarters is located. The government recognized by the international community, by the UN as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people was cornered in Tripoli and on the verge of collapse. At the moment Haftar took action for the final move, for the last shot, Turkey stepped in. It is from that moment onwards that all balances started to change. Now, it is Haftar on the defensive, and Tripoli’s legitimate government on his tail. The signal with respect to how far this chase will go was given when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yesterday received Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj at the Presidential Complex in capital Ankara.

“Unfortunately, there are state leaders and state representatives who also take the approach that It is not possible to leave Haftar aside. We are reminding them. One who has never cared about the problems of the Libyan people and continuously keeps Libya’s future under threat cannot have a representative capacity to sit at the table regarding this matter. This person and those who have provided him with military, financial, and political support are the greatest obstacle standing against peace. Indeed, those who have drowned Libya in blood and tears by backing the putschist Haftar are going to be judged by history.”

Erdoğan said these words after it was stated that they were in favor of a dialogue process in Libya under the auspices of the UN and leadership of the Libyan people, and with the participation of the entire Libyan nation. The meaning of this is that Haftar can no longer be a party to the dialogue or political process in Libya.

Haftar was essentially given this last chance in Berlin, shortly before he started his latest attacks. This was an extra opportunity provided to him despite his war crimes. Yet, even there, he exhibited avarice towards completely collapsing the Tripoli government and thus gaining sole control over the entire process.

However, this greed became the end of him, because his habit of taking over control the others parties involved through a countercoup at the first opportunity, is not one that can be remedied cured or contained. Anybody with such a habit cannot possibly be considered a reliable party in any political process. This is a clear threat for the people of Libya and they must protect themselves against this danger.

Hence, Erdoğan’s message was loud and clear: “We will never leave our Libyan brothers and sisters to the mercy of putschists and legionaries.”

On a different note, a message from an esteemed Turkish academic living in France for years about how excited he was regarding Turkey’s recent achievements in Libya captured my attention. What essentially drew my attention in the message, and consequently led me to take an interest in Turkish media’s level of interest was what he said concerning the indifference displayed by Turkish media to this huge success. My academic friend wrote, “The latest achievements of the GNA are described in French and European media as Turkey’s great success and advancement, and it has an extremely significant place in the media. However, I cannot see the same interest in Turkish media.”

Yet, this event is even more historic and critical than the Turkish landing in Cyprus – and it is happening silently. I noticed when my academic friend drew attention to it, and it is true: all British and Arab media are talking much more about this event than Turkish media. The real reason underlying intensified interest in our country in these last two days is the Libyan prime minister’s visit to President Erdoğan, rather than the victories GNA forces achieved on the ground with Turkey’s support.

Frankly, I always hesitate when I see exaggerated displays of joy in such circumstances. This is because following such joyous behavior, we face the danger of our chauvinistic sentiments becoming stronger rather than our national ones. Whereas, it would be wonderful if such events turned into lessons for a healthy history awareness.

I might as well share the response I gave to my academic friend: Let us look at it from the positive side. First, such achievements are now much beyond being the subject of exaggerated joys for Turkey. They have become routine for Turkey. The achievement of such victories daily and in every field shows that Turkey’s strength has now reached a certain level.

Second, though these successes are achieved with Turkey’s support, they are officially the achievements of the Libyan GNA forces, after all. Even though it appears from the international perspective as Turkey’s success or advancement, Turkey’s claim is not to fight in Libya but to reinstate peace and, in the final stage, to really leave Libya to Libyans.

The nobility demonstrated by Turkey and the consistency with its claims is also a reason why there was no exaggerated joy of success on the Turkey side.

Let this be an additional lesson to the colonialist pro-invasion and pro-coup forces that are trying to crouch over Libya and brazenly question what Turkey is doing there.

#Turkey
#Libya
#Victory
4 yıl önce
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Turkey will never leave Libyans to the mercy of putschists and legionnaires
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