Week after week, the verbal battle between Paris and Ankara over the war in Libya, where they accuse each other of "obstructing peace" continues to grow. Monday, June 29, President Emmanuel Macron said that Turkey had "historical and criminal responsibility" in the Libyan conflict as a country that "claims to be a member of NATO".  

"We are at a time of essential clarification of Turkish policy in Libya, which is unacceptable to us," added Emmanuel Macron during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Meseberg, Germany.

The head of state also accused Turkey of Recep Tayyip Erdogan of not respecting "none of its commitments from the Berlin conference" organized in January, and of "increasing its military presence in Libya and massively reimporting jihadist fighters from Syria ", in violation of the United Nations embargo.  

An exit much more muscular than when the French presidency had denounced, in mid-June, the "unacceptable" interventionism of Ankara, then, on June 22, a "dangerous game" Turkish in Libya, in which Emmanuel Macron saw a new demonstration of NATO's "brain death".

Turkey's direct and displayed intervention in Libya has reversed the balance of power in favor of the government of national unity (GNA) camp, recognized by the international community and supported by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And this, at the expense of the Libyan National Army (LNA) of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, supported by Russia and Egypt. A marshal now losing momentum that France, although she denies it, also supported, accuse the Turks. 

Ankara denounces France's "destructive mentality" 

In response to the French president, Turkey sharply denounced France's "destructive" approach to Libya on Tuesday, accusing it of seeking to strengthen Russia's presence in this country torn apart by a civil war since 2011. 

"France, which Macron is directing or rather that he cannot manage at the moment, is only (in Libya) to pursue his interests with a destructive mentality," replied the head of Turkish diplomacy Mevlüt Cavusoglu. . 

"What must be questioned and criticized is the policy of France, more precisely that of Macron (...) Macron should realize that attacking Turkey in this way will not bring him anything on domestic policy, and I hope he learns from it, "he added. 

Last week, a source in the French presidency explained that Turkey's "excesses" in Libya and the eastern Mediterranean pose a strategic challenge that goes beyond a simple "Franco-Turkish quarrel".  

"We are not in a Franco-Turkish quarrel, we have here a real strategic challenge which is posed and which is due to the excesses of President Erdogan in Libya but also in the eastern Mediterranean", said this source quoted by Reuters. 

Limited room for maneuver

In the firing line of the Élysée are notably the activities of exploitation and exploration of gas and oil, in the definition of economic zones in a way not in conformity with the convention of Montego Bay, and "the contradiction of the game led in Syria in the northeast and in the northwest and risk-taking in Libya. "  

Paris has never digested the Turkish offensive launched in October 2019 against Syrian Kurdish militias engaged alongside the Americans and Europeans in the fight against the Islamic State organization. 

Not to mention the recent "maritime incident" which pitted a French Navy frigate on June 10 against Turkish Navy ships. A Turkish maneuver perceived as "extremely aggressive".

The fact remains that Europeans, and in particular France, have very little room for maneuver against Recep Tayyip Erdogan who, on the contrary, has several cards in hand to put pressure on Europe, starting with that blackmail linked to the flow of migrants, from Greece and now from Libya. 

With AFP and Reuters 

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