world

France, Italy and Germany threaten sanctions on states interfering in Libya

13 Comments
By Mahmud TURKIA

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© 2020 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

13 Comments
Login to comment

France, Italy and Germany are "ready to consider" sanctions

I have trouble believing they are NOT involved in supporting one of the factions fighting. France and Italy both played key roles in ousting Gadaffi, setting off this yet another fight for control of oil and gas.

While forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar are backed by Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, the U.N.-recognized unity government is fighting back with Turkey's support.

Russia, Egypt, the UAE and Turkey - the US, China and other countries involved in this mess - should all tend to the numerous problems within their own borders.

And stop participating in any way in taking resources from another country.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Reality check. Thanks to the Corona recession, the world IS burning less oil and gas

Each foreign nation involved militarily in Libya today is there because of Libyan oil and gas. And their shipment.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Of course NATO nations are responsible for making Libya the horrible mess it is today. And Libya remains a mess today because foreign nations are involved either directly or indirectly in the ongoing battles for control of oil and gas.

Like Iraq and Syria, there are NO 'good' foreign nations involved militarily in Libya. Until the world starts burning less oil and gas, expect these wars to continue.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The Eastern Mediterranean seabed has the highest volume of natural gas in the world but the problem is that Italy, Israel, Greece, France, UAE and Saudi Arabia have bypassed Turkey- the country with the longest Mediterranean coastline. Turks cannot any longer afford to sit back and watch while the resources of the region are exploited by the west and their country is constantly flogged with refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen! Any conflict in the region means oil, gas and gold for the west but more refugees for especially Turkey. However, neither Europe nor Turkey is going to be put off by humanitarian aspects of Libyan conflict. It is too late for that!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Maybe he also converted the Hagia Sophia to a mosque because of "oil and gas". 

I haven't asked him, but think instead he's turning Hagia Sophia back to a mosque to attract more ultra-nationalists to his base. Authoritarians like Erdogan, and others in nearby countries and even in the USA manipulate ultra-nationalists.

And probably in addition to grabbing shares of Libya's oil and gas Erdogan wants to expand Turkey's reach in his attempts to rebuild his nation's old empire. Similar to Russia, maybe Iran and Saudi Arabia, too. And of course Trump's friends and oil corporation nabobs want their shares. As do Europe's. Global fossil economy run by and for the .01%. Long passed time to move away from their systems.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@PTownsend- Erdogan is hardly a threat to any nation in the west. The western powers come and destroy poor but natural resource rich countries in the region and the Turks bear the brunt of refugees from the region- unofficial figures suggest there are over 6 million refugees in Turkey today. Also, I note that you guys avoid talking about geo-politics. Turkey is an Eastern Mediterrenian country, that means they are in a very close proximity to the disputed international waters where natural gas is- the same cannot be said for Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, UAE. Please note I am talking about international waters here and not Libya. By bypassing Turkey in the region, those countries- Greece, Italy, France, Israel, Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Germany are doing a huge injustice to other nations in the region especially to the Turks. Why shouldn't Turks benefit from the Mediterrenian gas? Surely in essence such gas doesn't belong to any nation. Turkey is supporting the UN recognised Libyan Government and not the radical groups as suggested. So why should this upset anyone? I guess it does upset the western scavengers because if Turkey does support the legit Libyan Government and expand their energy business with Libya, Germany, France, Greece etc will no longer able to bypass Turkey in relation to the Eastern Mediterrenian gas reserves. I don't understand why you people think region's energy business has something to do with Hagia Sophia. There are hundreds of mosques which have been converted to a church across Eastern Europe and Spain; Black Mosque- Bulgaria, Gazi Kashim Pasha Mosque- Hungary, Faik Pasha Mosque- Greece, Bajrakli Mosque- Serbia....But noone blames them for converting these mosques to a church. Erdogan is trying to erase secularity in his country- first Ataturk Culture Centre, then Ataturk Airport and now Hagia Sophia...His actions however should not be confused with the region's 2 decade old military invasions- he is a very loyal and beneficial friend to Trump after all.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@Zaphod

Libya has an UN recognised government as the name suggests its government is the only legit and sovereign entity over Libya. In this regard the Libyan gov doesn't need anyone's permission to do business with another counry such as Turkey. The Libyan Government represent the people of Libya. What a stupid thing to say Libya represents the Muslim Brotherhood- you are saying 193 nations in the world did not know that Libyan Gov actually represented the MB and thus they made the mistake of recognising the Libyan Gov. What an airhead you are!

The Muslim Brotherhood was a missionary movement founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna, a schoolteacher working in the town of Ismailia, near the Suez Canal. He argued that an Islamic religious revival would enable the Muslim world to catch up to the West and shake off colonial rule. Muslim Brotherhood rejected western colonialism to this day and their political ideology goes against Sisi's military ruling, which is supported by Israel, the UK and US.

The MB had offices in Cairo, London, Amman...in the past but this has all changed once the US and their allies declared war against gog (gas/oil/gold) rich but militarily weak muslim countries namely Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria. I note that Israel considers anyone who supports the freedom movement of Palestinians a terrorist group. Israel claims Hamas is an off-shoot of the MB and thus they argue both MB and Hamas are terrorist groups. However many countries don't agree with Israel and their allies in this regard.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

John

Libya has an UN recognised government as the name suggests its government is the only legit and sovereign entity over Libya.

Libya is in civil war, and the fact that the corrupt UN recognized the Tripoli faction is irrelevant.

The Libyan Government represent the people of Libya. What a stupid thing to say Libya represents the Muslim Brotherhood

The "people of Libya" are divided, and the Tripoli government does represent the Muslim Brotherhood, which is designated in Egypt and UAE as a terrorist organization.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

The whole Libyan disaster would not exist if Obama/Clinton had not illegally interfered and overthrown the Gaddafi government.

Now we have a destroyed society, slave markets and civil war. Thank you so much, neolibs.

In the event, the Haftar faction is by far the smaller evil. Egypt is correct in not accepting a Turkey-supported Muslim Brotherhood regime next to its border.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Like Iraq and Syria, there are NO 'good' foreign nations involved militarily in Libya. Until the world starts burning less oil and gas, expect these wars to continue.

Reality check. Thanks to the Corona recession, the world IS burning less oil and gas. And plenty of wars are going on in regions with no oil and gas.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Ptownsend

Each foreign nation involved militarily in Libya today is there because of Libyan oil and gas. 

How good that you know exactly what is in Erdogans mind. Maybe he also converted the Hagia Sophia to a mosque because of "oil and gas". Ideology apparently does not exist.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Ptownsend

I haven't asked him, but think instead he's turning Hagia Sophia back to a mosque to attract more ultra-nationalists to his base.

So there ARE motives besides "oil and gas". Go figure.

And probably in addition to grabbing shares of Libya's oil and gas

What exactly does "grabbing shares of Libya's oil and gas" mean? Neither Erdogan nor any other party involved has indicated there will be any change in the ownership of the current operation. Idee fixe very much?

Erdogan wants to expand Turkey's reach in his attempts to rebuild his nation's old empire. 

He is very clear in his glorification of the islamic Ottoman empire, that is correct.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

John

Turkey is supporting the UN recognised Libyan Government and not the radical groups as suggested.

Reality check: The "UN recognised Libyan Government" represents the Muslim Brotherhood, which is very much a radical group. In fact, the Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Egypt and the UAE as a terrorist group.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites