Turkey extends its tentacles in Africa to increase its influence in Libya
More than three decades after applying for membership of the European Union, Turkey has moved away from Brussels and redirected its diplomacy towards Africa. In recent weeks, Ankara has strengthened its ties with some African countries, such as Niger with whom it has signed an agreement in the last few hours, in order to increase its influence in the region, specifically in Libya, where the Eurasian nation supports the internationally recognised National Accord Government (NAG) led by Fayez Sarraj. Thus, more than two thousand Somalis could have come to this country to fight alongside the militias affiliated with the GNA, according to information published on Sunday by the digital Sky News. This event has come to light at the same time that the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, spoke by phone with the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, to analyze the latest regional developments, particularly in Libya, as well as to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against COVID-19.
According to the sources to which Sky News has had access, many of the Somalis who now join the ranks of the ANG have Qatari citizenship. In addition, a report published a year ago reveals that several Somali intelligence officers received training in Doha, according to the newspaper mentioned above. In recent weeks, speculation that Ankara might replace the Syrian mercenaries it sends to the North African nation with people of other nationalities such as Somalia has only grown.
In recent years, Ankara has extended its tentacles in Somalia by signing agreements in various fields, which has allowed the Eurasian nation to expand its influence in this region. In October 2017, the country led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced its decision to establish a second military base outside Turkish territory and the chosen location was Somalia. This base is located just two kilometers south of the country's capital, Mogadishu, and has an area of approximately 400 hectares.
In this complex scenario, Turkey has also decided to strengthen its ties with Niger by signing a military cooperation agreement in the last few hours. The announcement that mercenaries of other nationalities have arrived in Libya came after the European Centre for the Fight against Terrorism and the French Centre for the Analysis of Terrorism (CAT) reported the arrival of "dozens of Moroccan combatants" in this war-torn nation, as reported by Al Ahdath Al Maghribia. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in recent months over 16,000 Syrian mercenaries have arrived in Libya to support militias loyal to the GNA.
In the war that confronts the GNA with the Libyan National Army (LNA), the latter is supported by Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Russia; while the Tripoli government, backed by the Muslim Brothers and Italy and internationally recognized by the United Nations, receives military aid from Turkey and Qatar. This Saturday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Giuseppe Conte and both concluded that dialogue is needed to reach a political solution in Libya. According to the Anadolu news agency, the Turkish leader has also held a telephone conversation with Nigerian President Mahamadou Issoufou in which they discussed the steps to be taken to improve bilateral relations, regional developments and cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus.
This round of contacts initiated by the Turkish leader came after Erdogan received Fayez Sarraj, leader of the GNA, behind closed doors in the Vahdettin Pavilion in Istanbul. Within the framework of this meeting, Sarraj could have signed economic agreements with several Turkish companies, as well as a new military agreement, according to some of the leaks reported by Sky News. All of this has taken place while large areas of the North African nation have been affected this Saturday by a massive electricity blackout, in the midst of a serious crisis of electricity shortage.
Negotiations to reach a political solution to the Libyan conflict have been ongoing in recent hours. The media adviser to the spokesman of the Chamber of Deputies, Hamid al Safi, informed on Sunday that the President of the Parliament, Aqila Saleh, will visit Morocco on Monday to discuss the evolution of this conflict, according to Libya's Channel 24.
