Obama’s illegal invasion of Libya keeps paying terror dividends.
Thus far, we’ve had an attack on a US diplomatic facility in Benghazi, the Mali war, weapons shipped in by Muslim terror states like Qatar finding their way as far as Gaza, a civil war with the Muslim Brotherhood, the ethnic cleansing of Coptic Christians in Libya, the abduction and torture of Africans, the internal rise of ISIS, and now Turkey’s Islamist dictator Erdogan is showing up to the party.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan paid a surprise visit to Tunisia on Wednesday to discuss cooperation for a possible ceasefire in neighboring Libya, where Ankara supports the internationally recognized government.
That means Turkey is threatening Egypt.
It’s also threatening Greece, Cyprus, and Israel.
The visit comes after Turkey signed an accord with Libya’s internationally recognized government last month that seeks to create an exclusive economic zone from Turkey’s southern Mediterranean shore to Libya’s northeast coast.
Which cuts across Greece and Cyprus.
Greece and Cyprus, which have long had maritime and territorial disputes with Turkey, say the accord is void and violates the international law of the sea. They see it as a cynical resource-grab designed to scupper the development of East Mediterranean gas and destabilize rivals.
Greece has expelled Libya’s ambassador to Athens and filed a complaint with the United Nations. Cyprus, where the northern part of the island is held by Turkey, has raised its own objections.
“Held”. The technical term is “occupied” by Turkish settlements. But the media is willing to use that term toward Israel, not Turkey.
At a Dec. 12 summit, EU leaders issued a statement “unequivocally” siding with member states Greece and Cyprus.
That and a buck fifty.
Meanwhile, as J.E. Dyer noted on Twitter, this is moving ahead to the obvious as Turkey tries to play out its discounted version of China.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent his firmest signal yet that Turkey will deploy troops to support Libya’s internationally recognized government, saying recent commitments between the countries should be seen as a “harbinger of steps” to follow.
Erdogan flew to Tunisia on Wednesday in a surprise visit that’s likely to include meetings with government officials from neighboring Libya. While he’s repeatedly discussed the possibility of sending troops to back Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj’s government against rebel commander Khalifa Haftar, he left no room for doubt at a news conference in Tunis.
“If there is an invitation, we would of course evaluate it,” Erdogan said in a televised press conference with Tunisia’s new president, Kais Saied.
Haftar, who has mounted an offensive to capture the Libyan capital, Tripoli, is backed by 7,000 mercenaries but “has no political legitimacy,” Erdogan said.
More specifically, Haftar is backed by Egypt.
Erdogan is threatening to send Turkish forces into Egypt’s back yard to challenge it and take control of Libya. It’s a fairly blatant Ottoman power move from a guy who keeps fantasizing about restoring the Ottoman Empire.
Obama’s illegal invasion is about to start paying even bigger dividends.
Leave a Reply