Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The Libyan presidential election, which was scheduled to take place in the last month of the preceding year, has been postponed.
Ahmad Bakhshi – Expert on Africa affairs
Strategic Council Online – Interview: Having stated that unfortunately election in Libya drives the wedge instead of creating a united Libya, a university professor said:” present situation has made a very complicated and dangerous circumstance in Libya and it seems that we will be witness the continuation of such crises and even more violent than the past, along with the intensification of internal and regional competitions”.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An analyst on Africa affairs said that the hasty holding of the elections in Libya will not lead to any conclusion and could even increase tensions, adding: Although the decision to hold elections in that country was the result of numerous political processes and negotiations, now the elections have been postponed and there is still no clear prospect of holding the elections.
Strategic Council Online-Interview: Having commented on the role and importance of interferences of foreign players in Libya and challenges ahead of the elections in the country, an analyst of international affairs said:” as long as foreign forces will not withdraw from Libya there is no guarantee to hold healthy elections and it is unclear that when the result of the elections opposes the interests of military groups, how would they react?
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 – Turkey is trying to use the leverage of its military presence in Libya to pave the way for political negotiations on political and economic interests, particularly on the sharing of Eastern Mediterranean energy resources.
Hassan Ashrafi – Researcher on Turkey’s affairs
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 – 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: Following recent incident in Mediterranean waters between Turkish and French navies, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has ordered an investigation into this unprecedented incident in the military relations between the two member states. The announcement of the arrest of members of a French spy network by Ankara, who were gathering information on Turkish soil, once again showed another questionable reflection of the internal developments of the NATO alliance and the deep differences in relations between its members.
Abolghasem Delphi – Former Ambassador to France
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: 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: Referring to the war of words between Turkey and the UAE over Libya, a university professor said that the rivalry that has taken place between the two groups in Libya is an endless game in which neither side will succeed in becoming influential powers in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. He said if this trend continues they will not be total victors in Libya.
Strategic Council Online: A university professor outlining the failure to achieve peace and ceasefire in Libya said: Since Khalifa Haftar is fully aware that Turkey would not abandon its support for economic investments and Brotherhood-led government in North Africa it has made accepting the ceasefire conditional on Turkish troop withdrawal from Libya to send the ball into the court of the National Unity Government and impose international pressure on it
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.
