Erdogan warns EU against ‘interference’ on Libya

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the European Union’s decision to launch a maritime effort focused on enforcing the UN arms embargo around Libya.
Erdogan accused the countries that agreed to the operation of “interfering in the region”. He also welcomed a decision by Libya’s UN-supported government, the GNA, to withdraw from the peace talks with rival commander Khalifa Haftar’s LNA, following an attack on a strategic port of the country’s capital, Tripoli.
“I want to specifically mention that the EU does not have the right to make any decision concerning Libya. The EU is trying to take charge of the situation and interfere”, Erdogan said in a speech.
Earlier this week, EU foreign ministers agreed to end Operation Sophia, the EU’s surveillance mission along the Libyan Mediterranean coast, and launch a maritime effort focused more on implementing the UN arms embargo around the country.
The LNA is backed by the United Arab Emirates, France, Russia and Egypt, while the GNA’s main supporter is Turkey. Many arms embargo breaches are occurring by air and by land through Egypt.
Operation Sophia was first established to end refugee smuggling in the Mediterranean. It had a mandate to enforce the UN arms embargo in Libya but the maritime mission has been unable to enforce it.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, as well as Stephanie Williams, the UN Deputy Special Representative to Libya have repeatedly warned that the conflict has to stop being fueled by foreign intervention, as the UAE and Turkey refuse to stop arming their allies.
Meanwhile, Italian authorities arrested the captain of a Lebanese-flagged cargo ship on suspicion of international arms trafficking. Italian prosecutors said the captain is under investigation for allegedly transferring military goods to Libya with as-yet unidentified Turkish military officials in violation of a UN arms embargo.
Erdogan confirmed that Turkey would continue aiding GNA’s PM Fayez al-Serraj’s government to “establish dominance” over all of Libya.