Turkey Threatens Military Action in Libya If Turks Not Released

(Bloomberg) -- Turkey accused forces loyal to Libya’s eastern commander Khalifa Haftar of capturing six of its citizens and threatened to take military action in the conflict-ravaged North African country unless they’re freed.

“We expect our citizens to be immediately released,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Shortly after Turkey’s warning, the LNA said it targeted an armed Turkish drone at a Tripoli airport.

The escalation risks drawing NATO’s second-largest military force deeper into what’s rapidly becoming the Middle East’s latest proxy conflict to control an oil-rich country divided between two rival administrations.

Haftar, who is supported by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, accuses Turkey of providing armed drones and other weapons to the United Nations-backed government in Tripoli to help repel his campaign to capture the capital.

Over the weekend, the Tripoli government said its forces have found sophisticated U.S. and other foreign weapons after they pushed Haftar’s forces out of a strategic city south of the capital. The cache included U.S.-made anti tank missiles originally sold to the U.A.E., a key American ally, the government said.

Agreement Violation?

Their presence, if true, raises questions whether the U.A.E. has violated its sales agreement with the U.S.

U.A.E. officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, though officials in the past have publicly backed efforts to stabilize Libya and hold elections.

Last week’s capture of Gharyan, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of the capital, was the biggest setback to Haftar since his forces swept the south in early 2019 before launching an offensive in April to seize Tripoli. The attack has upended talks sponsored by the UN to end the nation’s political divide.

Haftar’s LNA warned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the city’s fall will have consequences.

“There will be very big losses to Erdogan in Libya,” LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said in a late-night news conference on Saturday. “Any Turk in Libya will be arrested. Erdogan has harmed all Libyans, and therefore every Turk must take responsibility.”

On Sunday, he clarified he meant “Turks who assist terrorist groups,” not all Turkish citizens in Libya, though he said others could be “secured” or asked to leave “for their own protection.”

The LNA also banned flights from Istanbul to an airport in eastern Libya, where it’s based, and said it would target Turkish ships and installations in the OPEC member.

Proxy War

Western diplomats and Libyan officials have warned the conflict that has killed more than 700 people would spiral into a proxy war.

Two Western officials said the commander’s forces have been assisted by air strikes using Chinese-made Wing Loong drones known to have been sold to the U.A.E. One of the diplomats said neither side had received training to operate the drones, suggesting foreign assistance in conducting the air strikes.

Haftar’s backers see him as a capable partner in fighting extremists and bringing order to the country. The U.A.E. and Egypt, while supporting the LNA’s self-proclaimed fight against terrorism, have urged a return to stability so Libya can hold elections.

Anwar Gargash, the U.A.E.’s minister of state for foreign affairs, in May called for an immediate return to the UN-led process. Those efforts should lead to “credible and peaceful elections. Whoever wins those elections must be capable of unifying the country,” he said.

--With assistance from Zaid Sabah.

To contact the reporters on this story: Cagan Koc in Istanbul at ckoc2@bloomberg.net;Samer Khalil Al-Atrush in Tunis at skhalilalatr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Alaa Shahine, Linus Chua

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