The political path starts in Libya with Turkey as a protagonist

Political dialogue on Libya is due to begin on Wednesday as part of the Geneva negotiations, which were abandoned this week by the two sides - the LNA and the Government of National Unity (GNA) - following successive attacks between the two sides. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), led by Special Envoy Ghassan Salamé, said that during the process starting today "many political issues that were pending, such as the draft constitution, elections and executive authority, will be addressed". For the time being, no foreign player will participate in this process, because, according to the UN official, "third parties have already been given the right to express their opinions and interests during all the meetings leading up to the Berlin Summit," in statements collected by local media Libya Akhbar.

The political process that began in Geneva on Wednesday follows the joint talks of the 5+5 Military Committee, where the need to reach a lasting ceasefire and restore security to civilian areas was agreed. As a result of these meetings, which ended on 23 February, a draft ceasefire agreement was drawn up to facilitate the safe return of civilians to their areas of origin. The Committee is scheduled to meet with the opposing parties in March to begin work on the implementation of the treaty.  The UN has also launched a third channel, the economic one, in parallel.

Also in the political framework, it is worth remembering that this Tuesday it was known that both Qatar - ally of the GNA - and Tunisia had invited the tribes of Libya to hold a meeting with the aim of reaching a new roadmap to end the open war from 2011. This "roadmap" is considered by experts to be key to achieving peace in the country, since the Council that represents them brings together more than 1,000 representatives from practically the entire Libyan territory, with Arab, Amazigh, Tuareg and Toubou participation. However, this body has already rejected the proposal of a meeting with Tunisia because of its sponsorship by Qatar, which is linked to the destabilizing cells of the Muslim Brothers operating in the North African nation.

"We respect the efforts of the Tunisian president in the Libyan archive, and we appreciate the national Arab voice in neighbouring Tunisia, but we firmly reject proposals of this kind, especially when they are under Qatari patronage," the Council's statement said. The leaders of the tribes, meeting in the Libyan city of Tarhuna, have said that "Qatar spent large amounts of money to implant terrorism in the country". At the meeting, they also called on the UN to withdraw its support for the GNA.

For its part, Turkey continues to set the agenda in the Libyan conflict. The LNA announced on Tuesday the shooting down of two Turkish drones that were flying over the territory of the North African country. The first, a Bayraktar model, was intercepted south of the capital, Tripoli, the main stronghold of the rival faction, the GNA, led by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj. The second, however, was located just after taking off from the Turkish base of Maitika - also known as Mitiga -, located only 11 kilometres east of Tripoli. LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said that these acts reaffirm "the readiness of the Liberation Army units to deal with any security threat that endangers the security of the forces". He also said that the presence of drones was "Turkish terrorist hostilities that violate the truce declared in the region". 

The shooting down of the drones has coincided in time with the LNA's public condemnation of the continued attacks by Ankara-backed mercenaries against civilians in Tripoli. "Turkish-led terrorist gangs attacked civilian homes in the areas of Qars Banjshir and Ain Zara, south of the capital," Al-Mismari said.

An investigation by the French magazine Valeurs Actuelles entitled 'Neo-Ottoman Threat in the Mediterranean: The Neo-Sultan's Appetite for Power' also came to light on Wednesday, warning that Ankara, under the iron leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, "supports Islamist/Jihadist groups in both Syria and Libya". Analyst Alexandre del Valle, author of the study, explains that, "at the beginning of the Syrian crisis, Erdogan, with the financial and logistical support of Qatar, had his armies operating in Syria and Iraq transferred to Libyan territory. In this way, the president "took another step towards armed escalation, which risks setting the entire region ablaze, starting with the bordering countries - Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, Chad and Niger", warns the expert.