Turkish parliament to vote on sending troops to Libya

Turkey’s parliament is to vote on Thursday on whether to send troops to Libya to back the UN-supported government in Tripoli in its fight against forces loyal to a rival administration in eastern Libya seeking to capture the capital.

Lawmakers are expected to approve the motion at the emergency session called for later in the day, and grant a one-year mandate for the deployment, despite concerns that Turkish forces could aggravate Libya’s conflict further and destabilise the region.

The Tripoli-based government of the Libyan prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj, has faced an offensive by the rival, east-based government and commander Gen Khalifa Haftar. The fighting has threatened to plunge Libya into violence rivalling the 2011 conflict that ousted and killed the longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said last month that Sarraj requested the Turkish deployment, after they signed a military deal that allows Ankara to dispatch military experts and personnel to Libya. That deal, along with a separate agreement on maritime boundaries between Turkey and Libya, has drawn ire across the region and beyond.

Details of the possible Turkish deployment have not been revealed. The motion to be debated in parliament allows the government to decide on its scope, size and timing.

Ankara says the deployment is vital for Turkey to safeguard its interests in Libya and in the eastern Mediterranean, where it finds itself increasingly isolated as Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and Israel have established exclusive economic zones paving the way for oil and gas exploration.

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