Germany warns Turkey over mercenaries presence in Libya

During a meeting between German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and his Turkish counterpart Çavuşoğlu, Turkey made it clear that it would not withdraw its troops from Libya.

The visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu to Berlin was marked by a German policy of appeasement. As ANF already reported, the debates focused on the customs union between Turkey and Germany, the visa question and the facilitation of tourism.

Maas spoke of a “very constructive phase” in the conflict over natural gas reserves in the Mediterranean region, smoothly paraphrased as “territorial disputes in the Mediterranean” and resulted from Turkey's aggressive policy of expansionism. These statements show that the German government is ready to support the Turkish blackmail policy in the Mediterranean as well as on the issue of refugees.

Libya: bridgehead for the neo-Ottoman expansionism

While the dispute in the Mediterranean is clearly a bargaining chip and a tool of blackmail for Turkey, the Ankara regime is less willing to compromise on Libya. When the German Foreign Minister appealed to all foreign mercenaries and soldiers to leave the country in order to allow the stabilization of the situation in Libya, as was promised a year and a half ago at the Berlin Libya Conference. The Turkish Foreign Minister replied that the Turkish “military advisors” were not mercenaries, but were in Libya for a bilateral agreement in the country. The Erdoğan regime had signed an agreement with the previous Muslim Brotherhood government in Libya on the Mediterranean and military support.

The claim that there are no mercenaries in Libya is a lie; there is innumerable evidence of the presence of mercenaries from the Syrian National Army (SNA). In addition, Turkey had repeatedly broken the arms embargo against Libya in front of world and did not even shrink from the threat of military violence against NATO partners.

In contrast, the Turkish Foreign Minister called for the Russian mercenaries to be withdrawn. Libya is of great strategic importance for Turkey, because the North African country represents a bridgehead for the neo-Ottoman expansionism in North Africa. The political tool in this is the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt in particular is to be put under pressure by Turkey's military presence in the neighbouring state.