President Erdogan of Turkey said on Sunday, Jan. 5, that the country is deploying forces in Libya at the request of the UN-approved Government of National Accord (GNA), “to avoid a humanitarian tragedy,” but the United States fears increasing instability.
“There will be an operation center [in Libya], there will be a Turkish lieutenant general leading, and they will be managing the situation over there. [Turkish soldiers] are gradually moving there right now,” Erdogan told private broadcaster CNN Turk during an interview, according to Reuters.
Erdogan made his announcement after the Turkish parliament approved sending troops to support the embattled internationally recognized GNA, which is administered from Tripoli.
However, the UN-backed coalition has come increasingly under siege by the efforts of warlord Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), who operates from the eastern town of Tobruk and which has support from Egypt, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Ankara’s objective was “not to fight,” but “to support the legitimate government and avoid a humanitarian tragedy,” Erdogan assured.
However, Politico reported that President Donald Trump had warned Erdogan during a phone call that “foreign interference is complicating the situation in Libya.”
“There will be different units over there as combatant forces; they will not be from our military. Our top-level military personnel will be coordinating the situation over there,” Erdogan said.
Erdogan’s announcement came one day after a severe airstrike on a military academy in Tripoli on Saturday.
Dozens Killed in Airstrike on Military School in Libyan Capital
At least 30 people have been killed in an attack on a military academy in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, as fighting over control of the city between rival armed groups escalates, Reuters reported.
A further 33 people were left wounded in the attack, which took place on Jan. 4, as cadets gathered on a parade ground at the Hadaba academy in a southern district of the capital, the health ministry of the Tripoli-based government said on Sunday.
The majority of the victims were cadets from cities across the country aged between 18 and 22 who were left severely burned or “torn apart” during the attack, according to Al Jazeera.
The UN-supported Libyan government in Tripoli blamed the airstrike on Hafter’s army, which is supported by a rival administration based in the eastern city of Tobruk. Both the governments have been vying for control after the 2011 fall of al-Qaddafi left the country in chaos.
However, a spokesman for the LNA, Ahmed al-Mesmari, denied launching airstrikes on the military academy, and instead blamed the attack on Islamic extremists.
Epoch Times reporter Katabella Roberts contributed to this report
