Turkey wants Bashagha and not Serraj at the negotiating table for Libya, the sultan power on the puppet government
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Alaina
- . September 16, 2020
- . Update: September 16, 2020 5:49 pm
The recent Libyan dialogue meetings in Montreux in Switzerland, Bouznika in Morocco, and the delegations in Cairo give hope that a ceasefire will be reached in the North African country, tormented by almost ten years of conflict.
The “Intelligence Online” website revealed Tuesday that the French government had called a meeting between the representatives of the Libyan scene to try to realize the efforts made so far.According to the intelligence magazine, the Paris summit should have brought together Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj, President of Parliament Aguila Saleh, the head of the High Council of State Khaled al-Meshri, and the commander of the Libyan army Khalifa Haftar.
The news, not denied or clarified by French diplomacy, has caused much discussion both in Libya and in the chancelleries of European governments.However, the reaction of the president of the presidential council of the internationally recognized Libyan government, Fayez al-Serraj, was clear-cut. “Prime Minister al-Serraj will never meet Haftar either today or tomorrow,” a spokesman said.Many argue that al-Serraj refused to visit Paris under pressure from Turkey, indicating that before traveling, he should have given a speech to the nation to present the context of the negotiations to the Libyan people.
Simultaneous to this news, the media of the Muslim Brotherhood spread the word of the possible resignation of Fayez al-Serraj by the end of the week. Turkey would like to enter into negotiations not with the current prime minister, but with the current interior minister Fathi Pashagha.
The strong man from Misrata, leading the Islamist militias, returned to Tripoli, on August 29, from his trip to Ankara as if nothing had happened, accompanied by the powerful armed groups of Misrata and the Special Deterrence Force RADA. To many it seemed that Pashagha’s more than a return was an attempted coup, or at least a show of force to al-Serraj and the armed militias that coalesced in Osama al-Juwaily’s Joint Force.
Pashagha has been suspended by al-Serraj as his armed groups opened fire on peaceful demonstrators, injuring and arresting dozens of them. Following the Pashagha spectacular entry into the capital escorted by more than 300 armoured vihicles, Serraj was forced to reinstate him, once again, yielding to Ankara and the Muslim Brotherhood power. If Al-Sarraj was trying to limit the influence of Turkey’s strongman,he didn’t succeed and Pashagha returned to work with stronger powers than before.
Bashagha was undoubtedly commissioned by Ankara to take part in the Paris negotiations, after al-Serraj reconnected with Italy by signing treaties on medical-military cooperation. Both Pashagha and al-Serraj work for the Turkish regime, but Erdogan is relying on the Minister of the Interior. He is the one who manages the militias at the front, as well as the thousands of Syrian mercenaries still engaged in the rehabilitation of military bases and logistical operations to protect Turkish interests in Libya.
Realizing Bashagha ambitions to become Prime Minister of Libya means simplifying the theft of the wealth of the Libyans, as Sarraj was preparing public deals to facilitate Turkish control, which has become clear to the international community. So, the presence of Erdogan’s arm will not make Ankara in need of these deals.
Last week, the militias of Misurata demanded the formation of a crisis government and the change of all ministers, moving the government headquarters from Tripoli to any other city. That means that the intention was deliberate to seize power, had it not been for the Turkish intervention, and delay things to be formal.
