Ghassan Salameh: The agreement between the Al-Wefaq government and Turkey "escalation" leads to "internationalization" of the Libyan conflict

Ghassan Salameh, the UN envoy to Libya, saw in an interview with the French newspaper "Le Monde" published on Monday that the two agreements that the Libyan reconciliation government signed with Ankara recently constitute "an escalation of the conflict" and contribute to "accelerating its internationalization and expansion, especially to the maritime field."

Salama said that the agreements signed by the Al-Wefaq government headed by Fayez al-Sarraj with Turkey "constitute an escalation of the conflict by expanding it to areas far from Libya, especially with regard to the dispute between the Greeks and the Turks over the demarcation of the sea border, which poses severe problems."

He added that this matter "contributed to the acceleration of the internationalization of the conflict and its expansion, especially to the maritime field, and also to the military escalation in every sense of the word."

Salameh stopped when the "external interference" increased during the recent weeks in Libya, saying, "I am disappointed, and I am very disappointed, because no decision by the Security Council calls for a cease-fire, after nine months of fighting in Tripoli."

He believed that this leads to "a multiplication and increase in the intrusion of external interference."

In response to a question about the inability of the UN Security Council to impose the arms embargo resolution to Libya, Salameh said, "It is not only the regional players who violate this ban, but members of the Security Council. We are facing a very dangerous situation where the credibility of the United Nations is at stake."

The agreements were signed between the OS and Ankara in late November. The military agreement provides that Ankara can provide military assistance to the Al-Wefaq government to target the Libyan National Army led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

The second agreement provides for the demarcation of the maritime border between Turkey and Libya, and it angered Greece, which called on the United Nations to condemn the agreement that gives Ankara sovereignty over the hydrocarbon areas in the Mediterranean, especially off the island of Crete.