New details of the agreement between Erdogan and Sarraj

Turkey will increase its forces and build armament factories in Libya

photo_camera AFP / HO / Media Office of the operation "Volcano of Anger" - Armored personnel vehicles, sent to the Government of Libya, of the National Agreement (GNA), arriving at the port of Tripoli

This Thursday afternoon, the news appeared. The Prime Minister of the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNA), Fayez Sarraj, was travelling to the Turkish capital, Ankara, to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In a joint press conference, they announced the total control over Tripoli and, therefore, the defeat of the National Liberation Army (LNA), commanded by Marshal Jalifa Haftar. The two also agreed to strengthen their cooperation in the eastern Mediterranean and to exclude Haftar from negotiations on the country's future.

However, details of the pact between the leaders who had remained in the shadows began to emerge on Friday. According to Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath sources, the government of the Eurasian nation and the GNA have signed new agreements to increase Turkish forces in Libya and to establish arms production factories. Similarly, the construction of centres for the rehabilitation and training of Sarraj's troops is also being considered, although on one condition: that the GNA assume the salaries of the Turkish military experts in charge of these operations.

Likewise, these sources have revealed that Tripoli and Ankara are currently working to build a large port in Libya under Turkish protection, with two commercial areas and an area dedicated to the maintenance of boats. 

El presidente de Turquía, Recep Tayyip Erdogan y el primer ministro libio, Fayez Sarraj, en Ankara, Turquía, el 4 de junio de 2020

This Thursday, it was known that Russia had been progressively approaching the GNA in anticipation of the latter's victory over Haftar's troops. In fact, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had met with the Vice President of the Libyan Council, Ahmed Maiteeq, to show his support for the initiative launched for the political reconstruction of Libya.

However, Al-Arabiya reported that Turkey had already rejected the Russian attempt at rapprochement, despite the fact that Moscow had also offered to provide the Sarraj government with economic and political cooperation during the new phase that is now opening up in the country. Furthermore, it had undertaken to withdraw its mercenaries from the Wagner Group on Libyan soil, where they were currently fighting on the side of the LNA. This was in exchange for the release of two Russian citizens, Maxim Shugaley and Samer Sueifan, who had been arrested in Tripoli in May 2019

Un combatiente leal al internacionalmente reconocido Gobierno del Acuerdo Nacional (GNA)

This episode offers a further sign that Turkey does not want allies in Libya, for a simple reason: to be able to carry out its ambitions in the North African country without having to reach a consensus or be accountable to other countries, which, in the future, with disparate interests, could pose a problem. 

So far, Ankara has deployed more than 11,600 Syrian mercenaries in the North African nation to swell the ranks of the GNA, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). In addition, another 2,500 are currently in Turkey for training courses. The number of deaths among these militiamen in combat now stands at 351, including 20 under 18s who had also been recruited by Ankara.

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