Since Gaddafi's ouster, Libyan bloody civil war has been waged in Libya • Turkish President wants to take advantage of the situation, but may sink into mud and even get into conflict with Russia • Commentary

• Erdogan. Trying to break the isolation // Photo Archive: Reuters

In a short time - perhaps within days - President Erdogan, with the approval of the Turkish parliament, intends to order the sending of military forces to Tripoli in Libya. It is a rather desperate attempt by Turkey to tip the spoon in favor of one of the two parties fighting each other there. Units of the Turkish Navy will patrol the coasts of the oil-rich North African state. Almost since the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi at the beginning of the decade, Libya has been mired in a bloody civil war.

Tripoli in the West now has a distinctly Islamic-style government and parliament, seeking to establish Libya in a state based on Sharia law. In the eastern part of the state, the retired general established a suit of Khafter, who at the time fought in Kadhafi, his own army and a secular parliament.

Erdogan attacks Netanyahu // Photo: Reuters

In an effort to take over Libya, both camps are assisted by outside officials. General Heffer is assisting, among others, the Egyptians, Saudis and Emirates in the Persian Gulf; The government in Tripoli supports Turkey and Qatar. All of these factors, in clear violation of UN resolutions, provide the warring parties with weapons, ammunition, training and much money, which only prolongs the suffering of poor Libyan citizens.

Putin recognized an opportunity

It is likely that the Khafter army's superior military experience, the more money it received from the Saudis, the close assistance it received across the joint border with the Egyptians and the UAE armed forces (which turned out to be superior to those provided by the Turks to the Tripoli government) - have helped General Hefter over the last few years But what advanced the General's army in recent months to the outskirts of southern Tripoli, towards the occupation of the entire city, was military aid from Russia.

Just as in Syria, Putin correctly identified the "sitting on the fence" and jumped at a rare opportunity to establish a second strategic outpost after Syria in the Mediterranean basin; and perhaps to promote the establishment of a naval port for the Russian navy. Putin, with the help of the Libyan general, more than 1,000 fighters belonging to his mercenary army, known as "Power Wagner": tough fighters and great snipers, who inflicted severe losses on Tripoli defenders.

To her dismay, the Tripoli government, headed by Faiz Saraj, appealed to the Turks to send military forces to her aid to stop Huffter's army. Erdogan, a devious fox, quickly signed Suraj on two agreements: one for military and security cooperation, and another, unprecedented, for delimiting the maritime border between the two countries.

The signing of the maritime agreement, which stretches a connecting axis between the city of Dalaman in southwestern Turkey and Darna in northeastern Libya (which, incidentally, is not under the control of the Tripoli government), has drawn many condemnations from various sources. Some have defined it as contravening international law, and it has angered and worsened at least four countries in the eastern Mediterranean basin: Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and Israel - since, according to Erdogan, the agreement prevents the four from launching a gas pipeline project from the Middle East to Europe.

A sense of power? Just the opposite

He may well be wrong. Although the pipeline laying project is still far from ripening and entails many difficulties, and despite the warnings from Ankara, Prime Minister Netanyahu will head to Greece's summit today to sign an agreement with the Greek and Cyprus governments on an agreement to lay the pipeline. This is in line with the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the parties in 2017 and after a preliminary feasibility study was conducted. Israel hopes the Egyptians will join as well.

In recent days, Erdogan described the alliance you made with the Tripoli government in Libya as a historic achievement, and as a reminder of the Ottoman Empire's days; A kind of closure from the day when Mustafa Kemal Atta Turk, one of Turkey's revered military commanders and later founder of modern Turkey, was sent more than 100 years ago to Dana in Libya to help fight the Italian invasion.

But the truth is that the Turkish-Libyan Alliance does not indicate a sense of power in Erdogan, but quite the opposite - a desire to escape from the feeling of isolation that Turkey has in the eastern Mediterranean basin, and a desire to acquire another friend for its Turkish alliance, its only ally to date. .

In fighting the gas reservoirs, the Turkish ruler finds himself facing a strategic coalition of old and new rivals: Greece and Cyprus, Egypt and Israel. Egyptian President Assisi, who did not forget Erdogan for his support of the Muslim Brotherhood in the struggle for power in Egypt, has been conducting joint military maneuvers with the Greeks on Rhodes land since 2015, less than 20 kilometers off the coast of Turkey. About two years ago, the Cypriots also joined.

And now, after failing to reshape his neighbor from southern Syria without Assad (thanks to Russian involvement), Erdogan - and again due to Russian involvement - may also clash in his efforts to preserve the Islamic government in Tripoli. Despite going to battle, despite the willingness to send for military forces.

However, this does not mean that Russia and Turkey will inevitably face a military conflict between them on Libyan soil. First, because both leaders learned how to reach agreement even in a difficult confrontation, and second, because, like the Russians, Erdogan also intends to send mercenaries to Libya instead of regular military personnel - and in this way mask the extent of the losses.

Israel, at least officially, is not a party to the civil war in Libya, but will not regret the fall of Tripoli by General Heffer's army. His victory will inevitably nullify the agreements between Libya and Turkey and put the Sultan in his place.