Turkey will withdraw its forces in Libya when others do so

The Turkish president responded on Tuesday to the request of the international community and Libyan actors to withdraw its troops from the country. Erdogan has expressed his commitment that Turkish troops, which he says are training troops linked to the Government of National Accord, will leave the country when the rest of the foreign troops do.

According to last autumn's agreements, the mercenaries and foreign troops present in Libya should have left the country by 23 January, which has not happened. The international community insists that this step is key for the situation to stabilise and for the new government to start functioning. In addition to Turkey, Russia and other countries maintain troops on Libyan territory. 

In addition to the Turkish and Russian troops of the Wagner company, there are Syrian mercenaries that Ankara has been sending to the country. In total, it is estimated that there are around 20,000 foreign fighters in the Libyan conflict, a huge number that must be reduced to avoid tensions and ensure that the ceasefire remains in place. 

One of those who has expressed his rejection of the Turkish presence in Libya has been French President Emmanuel Macron. The French leader commented that Turkey should withdraw its forces, to which Erdogan responded that it should do the same for the Sahel countries, in reference to the troops deployed in the Barkhane operation. The speech against Macron also left room to accuse the French leader of "the massacres committed by France in Algeria and other African countries". This marks a new episode between the two leaders, a rhetorical confrontation that has escalated in recent months but seemed to be subsiding.

Macron was not the only one. Richard Mills, the US representative to the United Nations, has called on Turkey and Russia to "immediately begin withdrawing from Libya", referring to both national and mercenary troops. The United Nations has also asked the actors involved in the conflict to facilitate the proper functioning of the new transitional government.

The GNA's foreign minister, Mohamed Siyala, has asked Arab countries for help in guaranteeing the departure of the mercenaries from Libya. The request was made at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt is, along with the United Arab Emirates, one of the countries that has given most support to the LNA in Libya.

The Libyan National Army, one of the sides in the conflict, has expressed concern about the presence of mercenaries in the country despite the appointment of the new government. Through its spokesman, General Ahmed al-Mismari, it has warned that the foreign presence "threatens the agreements reached between the Libyan factions".

He himself indicated after the election of the transitional government that the LNA troops would be placed under the command of the Presidency Council, but that if the departure of mercenaries did not take place, "they would act". The foreign presence is one of the remaining issues that needs to be resolved in order for Libya to move towards a resolution of the decade-long conflict.