President Recep Tayyip Erdogan affirmed that Turkey continues to cooperate with the legitimate Libyan government “with determination and determination”, while Turkish Defense Minister Khulusi Akar started yesterday a visit to the Libyan capital, Tripoli; For a closer look at the progress of the ongoing activities within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding concluded between the two countries for security and military cooperation.
Meanwhile, Turkey has called on the UN Security Council to remind the United Arab Emirates of its responsibility to comply with international law and international humanitarian law, due to its threat to regional and international peace and security in many regions across the Middle East and North Africa, noting Abu Dhabi’s sabotage activities in Libya, Yemen and Somalia. The claim came in a letter sent by Turkish Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Fereydun Sınirlioglu to the UN Security Council and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
In his message, Senerlioglu drew attention to the subversive policies of the UAE to suppress democratic movements in the region and seek control, stressing that it had caused the death and injury of a large number of people in Yemen and used to starve millions as a weapon. The permanent Turkish delegate explained that what the UAE is doing in Yemen constitutes a war crime, pointing out that the United Nations and other international organizations have documented the sending of mercenaries to Yemen, their use by child fighters, and their financing by terrorist groups linked to Al Qaeda.
Sınirlioglu stressed that the UAE had tried to topple the government recognized by the United Nations in Libya, committed war crimes by bombing civilians and civilian infrastructure, violating the arms embargo systematically, and sent mercenaries to Libya from Syria, Sudan and Chad, stressing that it had committed the crime of smuggling people through Forcing Sudanese to go to Libya to fight.
The delegate of Turkey recalled the illegal siege imposed by the UAE on the State of Qatar in 2017, its fueling the political instability in Somalia, and its support for the regime of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria. The letter called on the UN Security Council to remind the United Arab Emirates of the responsibility to comply with international law and international humanitarian law, because of its threat to regional and international peace and security in the region from the Middle East to North Africa.
For its part, the US State Department expressed its annoyance over the association of the revolutionary general Khalifa Haftar with the Russian Wagner forces, stressing that this contradicts US and Libyan interests and undermines Libya’s sovereignty. In a statement on its website, the Foreign Ministry stressed that “militias that try to spoil the political process or engage in actions that threaten the stability of Libya should not be tolerated.”
On Wednesday, the US government met with representatives of Haftar’s forces to hold discussions on the demobilization of the militia, according to the statement. The American side stressed that the linking of Hifter’s forces to the Russian Wagner Group and the continued closure of oil fields are inconsistent with US and Libyan interests. He also considered that this link undermines Libyan sovereignty and increases the risk of conflict that could harm the oil infrastructure, according to the statement.
The statement stressed Washington’s opposition to all foreign interference in Libya, and discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire, and a return to security and political negotiations facilitated by the United Nations.
The meeting came, according to the State Department statement, in line with the policy of neutrality pursued by the United States in Libya, after Washington discussed the militia file, with representatives of the National Accord government, last week.
On June 7, the United Nations called on the Libyan parties to “initiate the JMC (5 + 5) talks in order to reach a permanent ceasefire agreement.”
The pressure and moves to return to the negotiating table increase, in light of the Libyan army recently achieving numerous victories in the western regions, as it liberated cities occupied by the Haftar militia, and is preparing to liberate the city of Sirte (450 km east of the capital Tripoli).
Last June, the Libyan Foreign Ministry said that the government continues to purge the country by all means of the Wagner mercenaries, which have become a “threat” to regional and international security, and not only the Libyan.
In addition, to date, Libyan authorities have recovered 219 bodies from mass graves in the south of the capital, Tripoli, and the city of Tarhuna, since the militia of the revolutionary general Khalifa Hifter was defeated, including last month. The Libyan government accuses France, Russia, Egypt and the UAE of supporting Haftar’s aggression against Tripoli with weapons and mercenaries, but these countries frequently deny this.
