Turkey’s Libya Gambit Gives Erdogan Some Good News
But troubles on the home front will make military progress abroad hard to sustain.
With thanks to Turkey.
Photographer: Hazem Turkia/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
It may be the closest thing to a foreign-policy success that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has had in years: Turkey’s intervention in Libya’s civil war has seemingly turned the tide in favor of the side he is backing. After a string of military successes by the Government of National Accord, the rebel commander Khalifa Haftar has been obliged to offer — under the convenient cover of Ramadan — a truce.
There is no doubt where the credit is due. The GNA was down and very nearly out at the end of last year, when Erdogan decided to provide military assistance. Haftar’s forces controlled most of the country; although the government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj had international recognition, its writ ran not much beyond Tripoli. It seemed a matter of months, perhaps even weeks, before the rebels took the capital.