Strategic Council Online – An expert on Africa affairs commenting on the current situation in Libya and the transitional government said: The government that is currently in power in Libya is known as the transitional government or the government of national unity, and is the result of a process that the United Nations initiated several years ago for state-building in Libya.
Strategic Council Online – The Eastern Mediterranean, border issues as well as the maritime agreement between Turkey and Libya are among the axes that have caused tensions between Greece and Turkey over the past two years. One of the contentious issues between the two neighbors is the internal developments in Libya. The visits of the leaders of both Libyan factions to Turkey and Greece have been met with fringe and controversy, and the crisis in Libya has practically added to the scope of the traditional rivalry between Athens and Ankara. Libya is in a geopolitically sensitive position, and its developments directly affect the security of Africa, the Middle East and Europe. If the Libyan crisis is resolved, the country can increase its oil production in 2 to 3 years and start oil trade with southern Europe.
Mahmoud Fazeli – Analyst of international affairs
Strategic Council Online—Interview: A university professor, referring to the national reconciliation and peace accord in Libya, said conditions of the peace accord in Libya is fragile because the weight and share of Libyan groups have not been properly examined and these issues will be influential in the period after elections.
Strategic Council Online-Interview: A university professor says participants in the negotiations in Morocco are serious and determined to resolve the crisis in Libya, adding however that one cannot be optimistic about the outcome of the negotiations as there are ups and downs in the talks and the two sides are aware of the consequences of a war of attrition.
Strategic Council Online – Regional players such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey are attempting to break up Libya and establish two different sovereignties in the country. Therefore, if the war continues, Libya like Sudan, may be divided into the two eastern and western parts.
Hassan Hanizadeh – Expert on Asian Affairs
Strategic Council Online – Interview: The two sides of the war in Libya have ceased the conflict under the present circumstances and are calling for political talks to end the deadlock, an expert of international relations said, adding that they face lengthy and difficult negotiations.
Strategic Council Online – Explaining Turkey’s military and economic actions in Libya, an international affairs expert said that by abandoning diplomacy in Libya, Turkey and Qatar were following the “courage is the fastest way to victory” theory. The two countries have relied on the skeptics of the warring parties and their fear of the human and material consequences and costs of the war.
Strategic Council Online – A university professor said that Turkey’s sphere of influence and territorialization in Libya is approaching the strategic depth and the first influence of Egypt, and in some cases they overlap. He added that at the beginning outbreak of clashes between Egypt and Turkey exists on the battlefield, but after a while when the two sides reach a balance in interests and the war turns into one of attrition they will go for negotiations.
Strategic Council Online – For the Westerners, any defeat and retreat of General Haftar’s forces mean the defeat of Egypt and the Arab reactionary states, which have sought to secure Western interests in Libya on a proxy basis, and now with the big defeat of Khalifa Haftar’s forces, have left the battlefield to the rival forces supported by Turkey.
Jafar Qanadbashi – African Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online – Talking about the field progress of the National Unity Government and the defeats of Khalifa Haftar in Libya, a university professor said it is unlikely that peace will be achieved in Libya in the current situation. He stressed that other agreements should be reached in addition to the Skhirat peace agreement another deal must be forged taking into account the demands of the political groups because if the government of national unity fails to meet the people’s demands we may see extremist groups emerge in the country.
Strategic Council Online: Libya’s good economic opportunities have led European states to enter into serious disputes with each other in their bid to dominate Libya, each secretly and openly supporting one of the parties involved in Libya, or like the London government play a significant role in the ongoing Libyan conflict through their interventions in the Arab world and through the use of Arab reaction on their behalf.
Jafar Qanadbashi – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: In the matter of fossil energy resources in the Mediterranean, Egypt, the Zionist regime, Greece and Cyprus have formed a bloc against that of Turkey, Libya and the Northern Cyprus. This situation has drawn the region to further security and military disputes. Meanwhile, if Syria, Lebanon and Gaza also enter the process of exploring and extracting gas fields, the equations will be much more complex.
Sabah Zangeneh – Energy Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: The new round of rivalries in Libya began when the Turkish and Russian governments sought to pave the way for their exclusive presence in the country under the pretext of a ceasefire. They aimed to forge an agreement between Seraj and Haftar governments without the knowledge of the European states.
Jafar Qanadbashi – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: In Libya, extensive military and material support is extended to General Khalifa Haftar. In regional level too, countries like Jordan, Sudan, UAE and Egypt extend logistical, financial and military support to Haftar. Therefore, the probability of his victory and the defeat of Faiz al-Seraj is one of the leading scenarios.
Strategic Council Online: A university professor cited Moscow’s announcement that Khalifa Haftar has left Moscow without signing a ceasefire agreement with the Libyan National Unity Government, saying: “Until the Arab countries are convinced that Khalifa Haftar will have the upper hand in the agreements to be reached, they will not be willing to allow him to agree to a ceasefire.”
Strategic Council Online: An expert on African affairs says the proxy war in Libya has somehow started with the intervention of the regional states, mainly the Arab states. He considers the ineffectiveness of the National Unity Government a means to further intensify the provocative efforts of Khalifa Haftar, emphasizing that in these circumstances, one cannot virtually draw a good perspective for the future of the Libyan government.
Strategic Council Online: Libya has now been turned into a field for the rivalry of the regional and trans-regional powers. The plurality of power centres and domestic actors in the Libyan crisis, the multiplicity of interests in the neighbouring countries and in the international environment have created a complicated situation for the country.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – West Asian Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: Libyan oil and gas wells are an important factor for the West and certain Arab countries to advance the ‘Deal of the Century.’ Libya is a place for dispute between Islamists and their opponents, and foreign actors here play different roles. The adventures of General Haftar against the legitimate government under Fayez al Sarraj speak of a disturbing future for Libya.
Amir Mousavi -Former diplomat and expert on Arab countries of North Africa
