(Jerusalem Post) Seth J. Frantzman - Egypt is concerned by Turkey's attempts to meddle in neighboring Libya after Ankara hinted it may send troops to Tripoli. Libya has been in a brutal civil war since 2011 and is divided between a government in Tripoli and an eastern Libya government that backs Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar. Turkey and the Tripoli government signed a defense agreement in November. Egypt has reached out to the UN after Turkey and Libya's Tripoli government signed a deal demarcating their Mediterranean boundaries. Greece and Cyprus were not included, nor was Haftar's government in Libya, which actually controls the coastline across from Turkey that Tripoli sought to demarcate. Egyptian media say the Tripoli government is run by militias and sees its government as being eroded by the Muslim Brotherhood, an enemy of Egypt's leaders. Turkey is close to the Brotherhood. This is why Turkey wants to be in Libya: to balance Egypt and not give it a win.
2019-12-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive