|
ANKARA, Dec. 16-- Turkey renewed pledge to provide military support to Libya's UN-backed government, taking the risk of a potential conflict with easter-based forces. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey is ready to provide Tripoli with any military support it needs after they signed a security cooperation and a controversial maritime boundary deal late November, which has inflamed tensions with Greece, the European Union, the U.S. and other Middle East countries. "We will protect the rights of Libya and Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean," said Erdogan in an interview with local TV. "We are more than ready to give whatever support necessary to Libya." Libya has been mired in chaos since an uprising that toppled and killed former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Erdogan made the remarks after meeting in Istanbul with Fayez al-Sarraj, prime minister of the UN-backed Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA), to whom he renewed Turkey's willingness to send troops to assist his forces against the rebels. Turkish experts are divided on the likelihood of sending Turkish soldiers to Libya, a move which would risk a direct military confrontation with Libyan militia backed by Russian mercenaries, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. "Turkey can send troops at any moment in Libya where a bitter conflict rages over the sharing of the nation's underground reserves, oil and gas," argued Ibrahim Karagul, an influential Turkish political expert and columnist in the pro-government Yeni Safak daily. | 
