Turkey stole money from Libya to pay Sarraj's 'war bills'
According to Libyan economists, quoted by Al-Ain, Turkey is trying to control the resources of the Libyan economy, and thus impose on its companies by direct order the acquisition of projects in the North African country.
The report revealed by the head of the Liquidity Crisis Committee of the Central Bank of Libya in Benghazi, Ramzi al-Agha, details how the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan is using Libyan liquidity reserves in its banks to deal with its crises, preventing them from being used from Tripoli for any related projects or returning them to the country to save the Libyan dinar.
Experts have warned of Erdogan's plan to plunder Libyan currency reserves from the Central Bank of Turkey and use them to save their country from the "stifling" economic crisis it is going through.
A few days ago, the Libyan prosecutor's office revealed that more than $800 million had been spent on bogus investments that are not listed abroad. The head of the Prosecutor General's office investigation Al-Siddiq al-Sour confirmed that there are cases with the Dutch and Swiss Prosecutors General and Deloitte concerning the Libyan Investment Corporation, which invests more than $65 billion abroad, indicating that there is cooperation with international companies to help investigate corruption in the Libyan government with public money.
Libyan economist Saeed Rashwan told Al-Ain that the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli has granted Turkey a good $6 billion interest-free loan to help the Turkish Central Bank withstand the growing demand for the dollar and the continuing collapse of the Turkish lira.
The Libyan economist explained that the funds, which are now at the Turkish Central Bank, will be transferred from deposits with Turkey to contributions that Libya will pay as bills for the war that Ankara waged against the Libyan army, which was trying to free Tripoli from the militias it controls.
He stressed that Libya's deposits may not be enough to pay the bill for the war, in which Turkey used mercenaries by the thousands and set a salary of $2,000 each, in addition to the warships, boats and drones, which Turkey used to save the Sarraj government.
He stressed that the next government will not be able to demand this money, and if it does, Turkey will present the war bill - of which nobody knows anything - to set up compensation and demand that Libya pay the rest of the money, indicating that Ankara does not want to end the conflict in Libya, being the sole beneficiary, and will be deprived of oil imports from Libya, which it believes is more entitled to them, so it is trying to block the current agreements and channels in Libya led by the UN mission.
Ibrahim al-Kharari, head of the Libyan-Egyptian Economic Chamber, confirmed to Al-Ain that Ankara is doing its utmost to control the resources of the national economy and impose its companies on the country by direct order.
The Libyan official added that the Turkish President is seeking to address the economic collapse of his country and the significant deterioration of the Turkish lira by acquiring the resources of the Libyan state, either through deposits in its banks or through its companies that are trying to create an environment for them in Libya.
A few days ago, the United Nations mission in Libya, through its representative, Stephanie Williams, announced the date set for the next elections in Libya, which will be held on 24 December 2021, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the country's declaration of independence.
Last week's talks in Tunisia follow a ceasefire last month between the two main parties to the war in the country: the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA) of renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, based in the east of the country.
