Turkey is still recruiting Syrian military to fight in Libya, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on February 21.
In a report, the London-based monitoring group said Ankara continues to ignore the intra-Libyan agreement reached on October 23 of 2020. The agreement stated that all foreign fighters should leave the country within three months. The deadline ended on January 23. However, Turkish-backed militants are still in Libya.
“The mercenaries who were sent by the Turkish government to serve its interests in Libya are still there and their return is still on halt,” the SOHR’s report reads. “On the contrary, there are continuous recruitment operations inside Syria in order to send militants to the Libya.”
According to recent reports by the SOHR, Turkey has sent more than 18,000 Syrian militants to Libya since 2019. Many have returned. However, thousands are still there.
Turkish-backed Syrian militants helped forces loyal to the Government of National Record repel a large-scale attack by the Libyan National Army on the capital, Tripoli. Moreover, they took part in a series of attacks which saw government forces capturing key areas in northwestern and western Libya.
The situation is Libya is currently stable. On February 5, the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum elected a new Presidential Council under the supervision of the UN.
Despite recent progress in the Libyan peace process, Turkey is not going to halt its intervention in the country. Ankara wants to establish permanent bases for its forces in western Libya and on its coast, according to several reports.
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