Egypt and Turkey edged closer to the possibility of armed conflict this week over Libya, with both sides preparing for an impending battle over a key city.
Egypt’s obsequious parliament voted unanimously behind closed doors late on Monday to authorise president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s proposed military intervention in support of renegade Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar. Mr Sisi on Monday reportedly spoke with US president Donald Trump in a likely attempt to get Washington to convince Ankara to stand down.
Meanwhile, Turkey and its Libyan allies of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) positioned heavy weaponry and fighters along the battlefront near the city of Sirte, the central Libyan city that is the gateway to the country’s crucial eastern oil infrastructure.
Sisi of Egypt has been lining up support for his probable invasion. Stay tuned.
Mr Isik [ analyst pro] called the Sirte [ key city under dispute] operation “inevitable,” driven as much by Turkey’s domestic political calculations as what’s happening on the ground in Libya. The city is the last major urban outpost before Libya’s “oil crescent”, which includes refineries, storage facilities and export terminals in Ras Lanuf, Brega and al-Sidr.
“They’re going to take the opportunity in Sirte,” he said. “Maybe they will figure out some bizarre arrangement with the Russians. But they’re going to take [Haftar] out. The process has already started and it’s too late to stop it.”
Egad, Erdogan has outdone himself. And Erdogan has the head start.
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