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Recep Tayyip Erdogan with member of the Turkish Army behind him, image via Wikipedia

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,769, October 5, 2020

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: After the infamous Mavi Marmara incident of May 2010, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoan and then foreign policy tzar Ahmet Davutolu (later PM and now an Erdoan opponent) pledged to internationally isolate Israel. This was intended to help them advance their Islamist agenda and augment an emerging unity in the umma, preferably under Turkish leadership. A decade later, pragmatic Arab states are lining up to normalize relations with Israel, leaving state actors Iran and Turkey as well as non-state actor Hamas in a punishing position of international isolationexactly where Turkey wanted to push Israel.

Neither the Ottoman nor the modern Turkish language has ever been short of racist proverbs denigrating Arabs and their culture. No more, said Recep Tayyip Erdoan, the Islamist leader who has been at the helm in Turkey since 2002. He made it a habit to publicly refer to Arabs, including his then regional nemesis Syrian president Bashar Assad, as my Arab brothers. His goal was to build a Muslim-Arab pact, a modern umma under Turkish leadership as in Ottoman times, to challenge Israel in the region and, more broadly, Western civilization. In 2010, Turkeys state broadcaster TRT even launched an Arabic language channel, TRT Arabi. Sadly for Erdoan, his attempt to fuse Islam and anti-Zionism seems to have fallen apart.

Turkish diplomats officially said the recent normalization deal between the UAE and Israel meant Abu Dhabi was betraying the Palestinian cause. This response from Ankara looked ridiculous, as it appeared to have forgotten that Turkey itself has had diplomatic relations with Israel since 1949. Turkish Islamists apparently do not care about looking ridiculous.

In its September 10 edition, Yeni Akit, a staunchly pro-Erdoan and Islamist militant newspaper, said the Saudis were competing with the UAE in treason [against the Palestinian cause]. Yeni Akit was referring to the decision by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, in a landmark change of policy, to allow all flights to and from Israel to use their airspace. The trouble with that criticism is that there too, Israel is one of the 138 countries with which Turkey has mutual accords for the use of airspace.

According to this logic, diplomatic relations with Israel and flights using the airspace of both countries are privileges that should be accorded to one Muslim country alone: Turkey. If other Muslim countries sign identical accords with Israel, its treason.

This rhetoric reflects Turkeys increasing loneliness in the Muslim/Arab world (with the sole exception of Qatar) after several years of loneliness within the NATO alliance. Turkey can thus claim the bizarre title: Odd man out in both NATO and the Muslim world.

This state of affairs has been coming on for years, but Erdoan has stubbornly refused to recalibrate his policy.

In early 2019, six nations, including the Palestinian Authority (Erdoans ideological next of kin), agreed to found the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum. At a July 2019 meeting in Cairo, the energy ministers of Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, and the PA, as well as a representative of the energy minister of Jordan, said they would form a committee to elevate the Forum to the level of an international organization that respects the rights of its members to their natural resources. Erdoan privately felt betrayed by this act of treason from his Palestinian brothers, comforting himself that the traitors were not members of his beloved Hamas.

In October 2019, the Arab League condemned Turkeys cross-border military operation in northeast Syria as an invasion of an Arab states land and an aggression on its sovereignty. The League would consider taking measures against Turkey in the economic, investment, and cultural sectors, including tourism and military cooperation. It also called on the UN Security Council to take the necessary measures to stop the Turkish aggression and [enforce] the withdrawal from Syrian territory immediately. To Ankaras deep embarrassment, its closest regional ally, Qatar, did not block the Leagues communique condemning Turkey.

Turkeys reaction was characteristically childish. Fahrettin Altun, Erdoans communications director, said the Arab League do not speak for the Arab world. An angry Erdoan said, All of you [Arab nations] wont make one Turkey. Thats quite a drift from his our Arab brothers rhetoric.

Apparently in the Turkish world of make-believe, only Turkeys Islamists or those with a seal of approval from Ankara can speak for the Arab world. Worse, Erdoan et al believe this idea can sell on the Arab street if it is dressed up in nice anti-Zionist, pro-Hamas rhetoric.

On September 9, the Arab League condemned Turkey (along with Iran) for interference in the region and the Palestinian cause. At the Leagues foreign ministers meeting, Egypts FM Sameh Shoukry said Cairo will not stand motionless in face of the Turkish greed that is especially being shown in northern Iraq, Libya, and Syria. Once again, Ankara totally rejected all the decisions taken at the meeting.

Murat Yetkin, a prominent Turkish journalist and editor of Yetkin Report, recently wrote: With the exception of [currently ambiguous] Libya and Qatar, what unites the Arabs now is no longer anti-Israeli sentiment but anti-Turkish sentiment.

Thats quite a long political journey to travel, and a tough destination for Erdoan.

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Burak Bekdil is an Ankara-based columnist. He regularly writes for the Gatestone Institute and Defense News and is a fellow at the Middle East Forum.

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Erdoan and His Arab Brothers - besacenter.org

Redeploying an energy survey vessel into Greece's exclusive economic zone, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has proved that he requires sanctioning.

It is obvious that Erdogan is challenging the European Union to live up to its sanction threats. Following the Oruc Reis' previous survey in August, the Turkish leader agreed to keep the vessel in port so as to facilitate dialogue with the EU and Greece. But his motives werent altruistic. Recognizing that Turkey's actions are incompatible with Greece's sovereign rights, the EU had threatened sanctions if Erdogans surveys continued. Erdogan, for a time, seemed to be inclined toward compromise. But this new survey proves that Erdogan has chosen to double down on escalation.

The central concern here is Erdogans belief that he can shred European security with impunity. As with his policy toward the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Erdogan sees a conflict with Greece or the threat thereof as a means to advance his interests. His rationale is ultimately imperial in nature. Determined to build a neo-Ottoman empire centered in Sunni Islamic populism, Erdogan sees the public subjugation of his competitors as fuel to his legacy agenda. Hated by Turkish nationalists, Greece presents unique appeal in this regard. Erdogan appears to have used the pretense of a diplomatic resolution to this crisis in order only to make Greece and the EU appear desperate for compromise and reciprocally weak.

Erdogan must not be allowed to succeed in this gambit.

Moving to shred the territorial rights and energy reserves of another European nation and fellow NATO ally, Erdogan is degrading a central tenet of the post-Second World War international order. To allow his imperial gambit to succeed would be to accept that European territorial inviolability no longer matters. It took two terrible wars and a Cold War standoff to preserve that sacred principle. And the principle must be upheld. After all, there's more at stake here than Erdogan's destabilizing activity. Were he allowed to proceed unchecked, the West would invite new aggression not just by Erdogan but by other actors, including Vladimir Putin. We should note here that Putin sees his compression of the Mediterranean Sea from Libya and Syria as a way to undermine NATO's southern flank.

In turn, the EU must now move expediently to impose sanctions on Erdogan. The EU should find overt American support. While the United States has a key strategic interest in maintaining its alliance with Turkey, that cannot come at the expense of European security. Nor can it come at the cost of sacrificing another American ally, Greece. To be sure, the U.S. and EU have issues of significant disagreement. But as with China and the South China Sea, the maritime stability of the Mediterranean Sea must be upheld.

Erdogan must be sanctioned. If he escalates this situation further, the U.S. and EU should escalate right along with him.

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Sanction Turkey - Washington Examiner

Ten years ago, the government of Turkey was claiming to be the force of stability and order in its volatile region. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a name for this policy: Zero problems with neighbours.

This week, as Mr. Erdogan plunged his country into a brutal new war between two of his neighbours while fighting active battles in at least two others and antagonizing half a dozen more, it is fair to say he has become the major problem for most of his neighbours. It is harder to say that he has any sensible goal or strategy or plan.

Even in 2010, there was reason to doubt he did. To become a broker of stability, Mr. Erdogan needed to reach a peaceful settlement with his own Kurdish minority, reconcile long-standing conflicts around Armenia and Cyprus, support the right forces in Syria, Egypt and Libya, keep a pathway open to Europe, maintain good relations with Israel and Iran, and avoid antagonizing both Russia and his countrys fellow NATO members.

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He has spent the decade doing precisely the opposite on every one of those files.

In the 2010s, he worked to transform himself into a president for life in the Vladimir Putin mould, and appears to be parroting the Russian Presidents method of becoming a regional strongman by stirring up chaos and instability in neighbouring countries. Hes doing this by using the Syrian uprising as an opportunity to wage war on Kurdish territory there, sending fighters to back Tripolis faction in the struggle for Libyan power and sending floods of refugees into Europe through Greece. Its what you might call a strategy of all problems with neighbours.

He calls it neo-Ottoman, promoting himself as a pan-Islamic influencer across a region roughly coincident with the Istanbul-centred empire whose collapse a century ago created modern Turkey. More plausibly, he is trying to rescue his countrys flailing economy by turning Turkey into a pipeline empire, expanding lines across his country to carry gas and oil to Europe from Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Russia, and potentially Qatar and Israel, and making unlikely attempts to lay claim to parts of the eastern Mediterranean gas fields.

Still, it was possible to imagine Mr. Erdogan had some larger vision of Turkish influence and power at least, until recent weeks. Whatever his long-term strategy may actually be, there is no way his latest military engagement could contribute to it.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region of Azerbaijan where the 150,000 people who live there are mostly ethnic Armenian and Christian, and have generally governed themselves as a distinct society for the past 25 years. Shortly after the breakup of the Soviet Union created the modern country of Azerbaijan its people are mostly Muslim and Turkish-speaking the region endured an ugly guerrilla war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over its status, killing 30,000 people.

This should be one of the worlds more easily resolved conflicts. Nagorno-Karabakh has little strategic or economic value; Armenia isnt interested in claiming it as territory; negotiations toward some formal semi-autonomous status have been dragging on for years.

But over the summer, Azerbaijans dictator Ilham Aliyev declared hed had it with talks, and that all the occupied lands must be freed without exception a chilling suggestion of ethnic warfare. The past week has seen attacks on civilians; some credible reports, though not all, suggest those attacks are deliberate and co-ordinated, in the vein of Russias wars in Chechnya.

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Although it is not surprising that Turkey is more aligned toward its long-time partner Azerbaijan, it would make far more strategic sense for Mr. Erdogan to attempt to play the peacemaker, as Russia did when a similar conflict flared up in 2016, only to be resolved fairly quickly with more talks.

Instead, Mr. Erdogan has plunged into the conflict with a fervour that has surprised even Turkish observers inured to his actions in the region. Turkish jets, tanks and munitions are pounding the area. Mr. Erdogan has egged on the Azerbaijani forces, declaring that the country had to take matters into its own hands, and even urging Armenians to overthrow their government (which came into power after a peaceful democracy uprising in 2018). Reporters from the BBC, Reuters and independent human-rights agencies have interviewed Syrian jihadi fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh who say theyre being paid by Turkey (whose officials deny this).

Turkeys role is unquestionably central in turning an avoidable conflagration into a far larger war that has a real danger of provoking conflicts across several countries. But Mr. Erdogan clearly expects this unnecessary war to benefit him. How it will help him, his country or his neighbours is a question that has mystified even seasoned observers of the Turkish Presidents methods and this time, they are unlikely to find an answer. This time, the chaos and bloodshed really have no larger purpose, real or imagined.

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Turkeys Erdogan has stirred up another cruel and senseless war - The Globe and Mail

Nordic Monitor

Ali hsan Arslan, a close confidant of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan and a deputy from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), hired a former senior adviser to the Trump campaign, lobbyist Barry Bennett, US Department of Justice Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) records have revealed.

According to documents filed with FARA on Wednesday, Bennett says he will assist Arslan in his role as a member of parliament to develop better relations with key policy makers and thinkers in Washington. Bennett also says he will work with Arslan free of charge because he is Arslans friend.

Yet, despite the absence of a formal, paid contract between the two, Bennett seems to have disclosed his relationship with Arslan to meet the requirements of the US statute known as FARA. The Foreign Agent Registration Act requires certain individuals working as agents of foreign principalswho are engaged in political activities or other activities specified under the statuteto make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities.

According to Bennetts FARA filing, his activities on behalf of Arslan may include communications with Members of Congress and Congressional staff, Executive Branch officials, the media, and with other individuals and organizations that could reference relations with the Republic of Turkey.

FARA disclosure filed by Barry Bennett:

Arslan, known as Mcahit (spelled Mujahid in English, meaning jihadist) in AKP circles, has been a close confident of Erdoan since his time as the mayor of stanbul. He is a businessman and one of the founding members of the AKP. Until his election to parliament in 2015, Arslan had no official titles but remained part of a core group that traveled almost everywhere with Erdoan.

In a 2004 cable on then-Prime Minister Erdoan, US Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman mentioned Mcahit Arslans name under the subtitle of corruption and said, Charges that Erdogan amassed his fortune through kickbacks as mayor of Istanbul have never been proven but we now hear more and more from insiders that close advisors such as private secretary Hikmet Bulduk, Mucahit Arslan, and Cuneyd Zapsu are engaging in wholesale influence peddling.

Bennett is a partner at Avenue Strategies, a lobbying firm he cofounded with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski shortly after the 2016 presidential election. According to FARA records, the firms client list has included the governments of Qatar and Zimbabwe. Other noteworthy clients include Venezuelan petroleum giant Citgo and Virginia-based tobacco company Altria.

Before serving as senior advisor to the Trump campaign, Bennett managed the presidential run of Ben Carson, now the US secretary of housing and urban development.

The lobbying registration just weeks before the US election has fueled speculation about a last-minute effort by the Erdoan government to see the Trump administration take action on some of its priorities. These include avoiding potential sanctions, improving cooperation in Syria and pushing for the US to extradite exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Glen, Erdoans arch enemy.

Turkish President Erdoan has been targeting followers of the Glen inspired movement since the corruption investigations of December 17-25, 2013, which implicated then-Prime Minister Erdoan, his family members and his inner circle.

Dismissing the investigations as a Glenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began to target its members. Erdoan intensified the crackdown on the movement following a coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that he accused Glen of masterminding. Glen and the movement strongly deny involvement in the abortive putsch or any terrorist activity. Following the allegations, Glen called on the Turkish government to allow for an international investigation.

As part of the crackdown Erdoan dismissed some 150,000 public servants including members of the armed forces, police officers, teachers, doctors and academics by emergency decree-laws, detaining hundreds of thousands and seizing their assets.

Avenue Strategies and the Turkish Heritage Organization

This is not the first time Avenue Strategies relations with important Turkish figures have been revealed. In June 2019 Gnl Tol, director of the Turkey Program at Washington, D.C.,-based think tank the Middle East Institute, claimed in a tweet that THO had offered in an email to pay $350 to people who agreed to attend a conference at which Turkeys justice minister, Abdlhamit Gl, would talk about the Turkish governments judicial reform strategy. The email was sent by John Cpin, a partner in Avenue Strategies.

An email sent to Gnl Tol by John Cpin on behalf of THO as shared by Tol on Twitter:

In response to Tols claims, THO President Ali nar shared the image of an email by Cpin to Tol apologizing for the misunderstanding and claiming that THO was not paying any honorarium.

The exchange revealed that Avenue Strategies was working for THO, with or without an official contract.

THO is a D.C.-based pro-Erdoan non-profit that, according to its website, promotes discussion and dialogue around Turkeys role in the international community and issues of importance in the U.S.-Turkey bilateral relationship. The sponsors of the organization include Turkish Airlines, which is owned by Turkeys sovereign wealth fund, and Turkish construction giants Kalyon and Kolin, two of the top winners of public tenders in Turkey during Erdoans term in office. In fact the firms were awarded so many contracts that they made it into the World Banks top 10 biggest global winners of public tenders,according to a report.

Beyond the Turkish government, THO also has close ties with Erdoans inner circle. Leaked emails published by Wikileaks in late 2017 show that THO was founded, with the involvement of Erdoans son-in-law and Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak, who was at the time Turkeys energy minister, as a way to camouflage the Turkish governments lobbying activities in the US. The emails were stolen by a Turkish Marxist group called RedHack.

In the emails THOs former president, Halil Danmaz, details a roadmap to circumvent tax and other impediments in the laws by hiring journalists who could get access to American political and bureaucratic circles, including members of Congress. These journalists would then be paid to write and publish articles in American newspapers and news sites essentially advocating for Erdoans agenda and developing opinion in legislative circles.

The extent of the services provided by Avenue Strategies to THO is unknown. But given the direct ties of THO to Erdoans inner circle, the organization might have contracted Avenue Strategies to influence the Trump administration.

A report by Asbarez suggests that THO might in fact have also penetrated the Biden campaign. According to Ara Khachatourians report, Elvir Klempic, the former executive director of THO, was appointed national affinity and ethnic engagement director by the campaign of Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for president.

THO, Ekim Alptekin and Russian ties

According to a Politico story, Dmitri David Zaikin, a Soviet-born former executive in Russian energy and mining companies, was also instrumental in the setting up of THO.

The organization got its start when Zaikin asked a Washington-based international political consultant named John Moreira to help set it up, Moreira told Politico. Zaikin has also had dealings with the government of Vladimir Putin, according to three people with direct knowledge of the activities.

Moreira told Politico he was paid to help manage the heritage organization but would not say by whom. He said he gave Zaikin weekly updates on the organizations activities and that Zaikin visited Washington about every other month. On at least one occasion, a man named Ekim Alptekin met with communications consultants working for the Turkish Heritage Organization, Moreira said.

Alptekin is a pro-government Turkish businessman whose payments to former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn for research and lobbying work against the Glen movement were central to a political controversy in the US. Alptekin was charged with hiring Michael Flynn as part of a secret, illegal US lobbying scheme on behalf of the Turkish government during and after the 2016 presidential campaign and is still at large and wanted by the FBI.

But three people with direct knowledge of the situation said it was more than just one meeting; Zaikin and Alptekin worked together to help coordinate pro-Turkish lobbying.

For his part Zaikin told Politico: I introduced [the Turkish Heritage Organization] to a few companies who I believed were industry professionals in good standing. I was present at a few meetings.

Zaikin did not sign checks or contracts lobbying firms were hired through the Turkish Heritage Organization and another nonprofit called the Turkish Institute for Progress, according to lobbying disclosure records. Zaikin also asked Moreira to help set up the Turkish Institute for Progress, Moreira said.

Leaked emails of Berat Albayrak also appear to show Zaikin receiving reports of those lobbying activities.

Zaikin, 49, was born in Ukraine and grew up as a citizen of the Soviet Union. He said in emails that doctors excused him from the Soviet military draft because of an injury and that his family left the Soviet Union in 1990. He subsequently became a Canadian citizen and now lives in London.

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Erdoan confidant signs former Trump advisor to lobby US lawmakers on Turkey's behalf - Nordic Research and Monitoring Network

CAIRO 11 October 2020: The ambassadors of the European Union and a number of European countries told Saturday Libyan Interim Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj that the maritime borders demarcation MoU he had signed with Turkey in December "infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states, does not comply with the law of the Sea, and cannot produce any legal consequences for third states," as indicated in a statement released by the EU Commission.

The head of the EU Delegation to Libya and the ambassadors of Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, Spain, Sweden, and Norway met Sarraj to present their credentials.

The envoys reiterated the necessity of complying with the outcomes of Berlin Conference held in January embodied in pursuing a political solution and abiding by the arms embargo imposed on Libya.

The ambassadors hinted that further sanctions can be used by the EU "against those who undermine and obstruct work on different tracks of the Berlin process including on the implementation of the UN embargo on Libya, as well as those work against ongoing attempts to reform the security authorities, continue to plunder state funds or commit human rights abuses and violations all over the country."

The diplomats also displayed the role of EU Operation Irini in the implementation of the embargo and the prevention of oil smuggling.

On September 21, European Union foreign ministers agreed to sanction two individuals and three companies for violating the arms embargo on Libya, two diplomats told Reuters.

Both individuals are Libyan while the companies are based in Turkey, Jordan, and Kazkhstan and operate in the maritime and aviation sectors.

Those are Kazakhstans Sigma Airlines, Jordans Med Wave Shipping, and Turkey's Avrasya Shipping. According to Reuters, the assets of the Turkish firm have been frozen as its "cargo vessel Cirkin was involved in a naval incident between NATO members France and Turkey in June," and also used to smuggle arms to Libya.

Turkey denies the claims and says the ship was carrying humanitarian aid, as reported by Reuters.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned on August 6 a "criminal network threatening the stability and security of Libya."

In a statement, OFAC explained that the network consists of Faysal al-Wadi, operator of the vessel Maraya, and two associates who are Musbah Mohamed M Wadi and Nourddin Millod M Musbah. The office designated the Malta-based company, Alwefaq Ltd, and identified Maraya as blocked property.

Faysal al-Wadi and his associates have smuggled fuel from Libya and used Libya as a transit zone to smuggle illicit drugs, said Deputy Secretary Justin G. Muzinich. The United States is committed to exposing illicit networks exploiting Libyas resources for their own profit while hurting the Libyan people, the statement reads.

"Wadi has worked with a network of contacts in North Africa and southern Europe to smuggle fuel from, and illicit drugs through, Libya to Malta. Wadis illicit trafficking operation transported drugs between the Libyan port of Zuwarah and Hurds Bank, just outside Maltas territorial waters. Hurds Bank is a well-known geographic transfer location for illicit maritime transactions. Wadi also smuggled drugs and Libyan fuel into Malta itself. Wadi has kept all official documentation clear of his name, while being the primary organizer of smuggling operations using the vessel Maraya," OFAC indicated.

"As a result of todays actions, all property and interests in property of these persons, including the identified vessel, that are in or come within the United States or are in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC or otherwise exempt, OFACs regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or those within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated persons," the statement underlined.

The sanctioned company is most probably named after Al Wefaq Government (Arabic for the Government of National Accord (GNA)), which is a Tripoli-based interim government that is not elected but recognized by the United Nations.

Zuwarah, from which the fuel was smuggled, is a Mediterranean city western Libya lying to the west of the capital, Tripoli, and is controlled by the GNA militias.

On the same day the U.S. sanctions were announced, Libya, Turkey, and Malta issued a joint statement denouncing NATO's Operation IRINI aimed at enforcing arms embargo on Libya in the Mediterranean.

The foreign ministers of the three states met in Tripoli to discuss joint cooperation as Turkey and Malta expressed support to the GNA.

In December 2019, Turkey signed with the GNA two MoUs on defense and gas drilling in the Mediterranean.

Spokesperson of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Ahmed al-Mesmary had stated early in July that Turkey has transported into Libya 25,000 mercenaries. Those include 17,000 Syrian militants, 2,500 Tunisians who fought in the ranks of the Islamic State (IS) in Idlib and Aleppo, and other nationalities including the Sudanese.

Turkey has also sent 2,500 3,000 officers and military experts to co-command the operations rooms of the GNA militias and to pilot drones from mainly Tripoli's Mitiga Airbase. The LNA downed around 70 Turkish drones as they were targeting its concentrations.

The LNA announced downing on July 23 a Turkish reconnaissance plane west of the Libyan city of Sirte, which is currently controlled by LNA forces.

On July 22, the LNA warned Turkey against approaching the Libyan coast, threatening to target any hostile naval vessels in the Libyan waters.

Libyan tribes announced the closure of oil ports and fields in January as the revenues were used by the GNA to pay militants. Early in July, the tribes declared that oil facilities would resume operations. However, the LNA announced on July 11 that such facilities would remain closed until the demands of the Libyan people on dismantling militias are fulfilled. The Libyan National Oil Corporation (NCO) announced that the value of revenues lost until present is $6.5 billion.

On July 5, several "unknown aircraft" launched nine strikes against Oqba Bin Nafea Airbase located in Al Watiyah controlled by the GNA and Turkey. The outcome was the destruction of Hawk air defense systems, and a Koral electronic warfare system as well as the killing of a Turkish commander, and six officers as the operations room they were in was hit.

However, Commander of Mobilization at the LNA Khaled al-Mahgoub stated on July 20 that Turkey still uses Oqba bin Nafea airbase in Al Watiyah western the country to bring in military reinforcements less than a month from losing air defense and electronic warfare systems in strikes by "unknown flights."

The LNA's commander of mobilization unveiled July 25 that Syrian mercenaries transported by Turkey are being turned into police forces by the Ministry of Interior affiliated to the GNA.

The Libyan Armed Forces restored Sirte in January, and was advancing in the outskirts of Misrata and Tripoli. However, early in June, it lost Al Watiyah and Tarhouna, which was its last stronghold western the country, retreating into Sirte and Al Jufrah.

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Sarraj-Erdogan maritime demarcation MoU not binding to other states: EU - Egypttoday