2020-01-18
In the article released on Saturday, on the eve of a peace conference in Berlin, Erdogan said the European Union’s failure to adequately support the Government of National Accord (GNA) would be “a betrayal of its own core values, including democracy and human rights”.
“Europe will encounter a fresh set of problems and threats if Libya’s legitimate government were to fall,” Erdogan said.
“Terrorist organisations such as ISIS [ISIL or Daesh] and al-Qaeda, which suffered a military defeat in Syria and Iraq, will find a fertile ground to get back on their feet,” he continued.
“Keeping in mind that Europe is less interested in providing military support to Libya, the obvious choice is to work with Turkey, which has already promised military assistance,” Erdogan said.
“We will train Libya’s security forces and help them combat terrorism, human trafficking and other serious threats against international security,” he added.
A furious Erdogan warned on Tuesday that Turkey will not refrain from “teaching a lesson” to the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, if their attacks against the GNA continue.
Both the LNA and GNA conditionally agreed to a truce brokered by Turkey and Russia last week, however, new fighting has been reported.
Content retrieved from: https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/erdogan-warns-europe-of-new-terrorist-threat-if-turkish-backed-libyan-govt-falls/.