Libya, victim of the coronavirus and Turkey's ambitions

There is no such thing as an inevitable war. Libya is a country characterized by tribalism and by its large oil fields.  Control over resources has turned this conflict into an open war of interests over who gets control of the much prized black gold. The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has not wanted to leave his ambitions out of this game, so last January 6, he officially began his intervention in the North African nation, with the aim of supporting the government recognized by the UN in Tripoli. 

However, the dynamics of the game have been changing in recent months and Ankara has decided to bet on sending Syrian and other nationalities mercenaries to swell the ranks of the Government of National Accord (GNA). The spokesman of the Libyan National Army, Ahmed Al-Mismari announced on Thursday that Turkey is transferring mercenaries from the Horn of Africa to Libya with the support of Qatar. In his last speech he said that the Eurasian nation continues to send mercenaries of different nationalities to Libya, and indicated that "the North African country will not be their last stop", but, as he said, "they will be transferred later to Europe and other countries in the region". 

Ankara has played a fundamental role in the conflict that the North African nation is suffering as a result of the agreement signed last November between Turkey and the National Accord Government (NAG), based in Tripoli and led by Fayez Sarraj. Within the framework of this security and economic cooperation agreement, Turkey has increased its presence in Libya, sending hundreds of mercenaries and dozens of shipments of military material, with the aim of exercising more influence in the Eastern Mediterranean and having direct access to the country's oil fields.  However, this document has been harshly criticised by some countries in the region, who see this agreement as a threat to their stability. 

Libya is the victim of a war that pits the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by General Khalifa Haftar, and supported by Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Russia and France; while the Tripoli government, backed by the Muslim Brotherhood and internationally recognised by the United Nations, receives military aid from Turkey and Qatar. In this complex scenario, the Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta has published an article indicating the Turkish president's desire to send the S-400 system to Libya and Syria. According to this media, Erdogan postponed the sending of this Russian system to "avoid the sanctions that the United States is threatening to impose on Ankara.

In this spiral of instability live the thousands and thousands of civilians who dream of peace every day. The fate of at least 35 Egyptian fishermen is at stake after they were allegedly arrested by the National Accord Government on 2 November 2019, the daily Arab News has reported.  The families of these fishermen have called on the Egyptian government to "redouble its efforts to ensure their freedom", according to statements made by this online newspaper which does not know the whereabouts of these people.  The leader of the fishermen's union in Kafr El-Sheikh, Ahmed Nassar, told the newspaper that they had not been able to communicate with the fishermen since last November and criticised the fact that "the GNA is arresting fishermen without a clear charge to justify their detention". 

The international community has turned to the North African nation and has repeatedly called for the resumption of peace talks. The last of these has taken place between the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, and his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, who have stressed the importance of agreeing on a ceasefire in this country and resuming comprehensive intra-Libyan dialogue, within the framework of the mechanisms established by the decisions of the Berlin Conference and approved by UN Security Council Resolution 2510.

Talks within the Libyan powder keg are also taking place. The East Libyan Parliament announced on Tuesday a debate on a "comprehensive political initiative" to end the conflict that has been going on in the country for nine years.  Asaad al-Shirta, the spokesman for the institution, said that the aim of this initiative is to end the bloodshed and achieve national reconciliation "taking into account impunity for the crimes committed against the Libyans". 

This conflict has had a direct impact on civil society, as the war has reduced oil production to less than 100,000 barrels per day compared to the 1.8 million barrels it extracted during the Gaddafi era, putting the economy of hundreds of families in check. To this situation we must add the appearance of a pathogen that has had the capacity to change the world as we knew it. The coronavirus has reached a nation already devastated by war. According to the National Center for Disease Control, the number of recorded deaths is over 120, while the number of those hospitalized is 731. The number of direct infections by COVID-19 reached a new record on Aug. 10, after local authorities confirmed 309 cases.