https://arab.news/r7zv6
- Turkey backs Libya’s internationally recognized government based in Tripoli
- It has repeatedly described strong Khalifa Haftar and his forces as illegitimate
JEDDAH: Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces a rebuff in his attempts to drag Algeria into the conflict in Libya, analysts told Arab News on Sunday.
The Turkish president visited Algiers on Sunday for talks with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
“We are going to discuss the latest developments in our region, especially Libya,” he said.
Turkey has sent military aid to the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, whose fighters have been at war since last April with Libya National Army (LNA) forces led by eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar.
Turkish naval frigates and Algerian vessels took part in naval exercises this month, sparking speculation that Erdogan would ask Tebboune for help with a naval base to conduct its Libyan operations.
Any such request is likely to be denied, experts said. “Algeria is opposed to Turkey’s military intervention in Libya, and indeed to all foreign intervention there,” Yahia Zoubir, director of geopolitics research at the Kedge Business School in Marseille, told Arab News.
“It is even doubtful whether they will allow Turkey to fly over Algerian territory to attack Haftar’s positions near the southeastern border with Algeria.”
Haftar opened a new front in the conflict on Sunday by moving troops from Sirte toward the city of Misrata, which is allied to the GNA. Two LNA fighters were killed and eight wounded fighting forces from Misrata in the town of Abugrain, 120km east.
The new fighting ends a fragile truce. The UAE, Egypt, Russia and Turkey agreed with Western powers at a summit in Berlin last Sunday to push for a lasting cease-fire and uphold an existing UN arms embargo.