Bobby Ghosh, Columnist

Erdogan’s Ambitions for Turkey in Libya Are Growing

Nation-building overseas looks better than dealing with crises at home.

June 23, 2020 at 5:00 AM UTC

Bobby Ghosh is a senior editor in the digital weekend team. Previously, he was a columnist at Bloomberg Opinion, where he wrote mostly about international affairs and culture.

Turkey unmasks its ambitions.
Photographer: Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

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If it looks like nation-building, smells like nation-building…. A flurry of Turkish measures and announcements suggests President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions in Libya are no longer restricted to protecting the government in Tripoli and enabling it to negotiate as equals with Khalifa Haftar, the rebel commander.

Turkish military support has allowed the forces of the Government of National Accord to inflict reversals on Haftar’s so-called Libyan National Army. But Turkey has rejected a cease-fire proposal from Egypt, the LNA’s main backer.