The Address | Benghazi – Libya | Faraj Aljarih
The Libyan National Army on Thursday said its warplanes carried out a series of seven airstrikes on Misurata air college base, targeting “a Turkish Operations Room in the base and air-defense systems.” If confirmed, the presence of Turkish soldiers in Misurata would be just another side of the Turkish government’s interventions in Libya.
At Tripoli Mitiga Airport, under Islamist battalions allied with the government of Fayez al-Sarraj, there is another Turkish operations room led by at least seven officers of the Turkish army and is actively involved in Tripoli war, according to the Libyan National Army.
The Turkish support for the Islamist militias in Tripoli and Misurata was not only through operation rooms but also with various types of weapons, ammunition, and advanced equipment, not to mention political and media support.
It was revealed on more than one occasion the arrival of Turkish arms shipments to militias of Tripoli, most notably the shipment of arms aboard the Turkish ships Amazon, which provided armored military vehicles and weapons via Tripoli port, coming from the Turkish Samsun port in mid-May. The Libyan National Army announced dropping many Turkish drones since the beginning of the war in Tripoli on April 4.
In September 2015, the Greek authorities seized a Turkish ship loaded with weapons destined for Libya when a boat belonging to the Coast Guard raided the ship that sailed from the Turkish port of Iskenderun to Heraklion port on the Greek island of Crete.
In January 2018, the Greek Coast Guard also seized another Turkish ship loaded with explosives destined for Libya. The ship’s insurance data indicated that its material had been loaded at the Turkish ports of Mersin and Sankron, and that its captain had received orders from the ship’s owner to sail to the Libyan city of Misurata to unload the entire cargo.
In December 2018, another Turkish ship arrived at the port of al-Khoms city loaded with arms and ammunition. Moreover, Customs services at Benina airport in Benghazi announced they seized a shipment from Turkey that included 3,000 Turkish revolvers, as well as other pistols, rifles, and ammunition.
The Turkish arms shipments are a clear violation of UN Security Council resolution 1970, which prohibits the supply of arms to the country.
The Security Council resolution called on all United Nations Member States to “prevent the sale or supply of arms and related materiel to Libya, including arms, ammunition, military vehicles, equipment, paramilitary equipment, and spare parts.”
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan publicly announced in June violating this arms embargo.
