• Libya, Conte: "There is no room for military option, political solution under UN auspices"
  • Libya, Moscow: progress in negotiations but Haftar still asks for time

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January 16, 2020 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that Turkey "will grant licenses and begin drilling, as foreseen in the agreement with Libya, in 2020". The official Anadolu agency reports it. Turkey will therefore start this year "exploration and drilling activities" in the Mediterranean in the areas covered by the agreement on the demarcation of maritime borders with Libya., Erdogan explained that "the Oruc Reis ship will initially carry out a seismic exploration".

Erdogan has returned to talk about Libya, including on the issue of sending Turkish troops. "We are sending our military to strengthen Libya's stability and maintain a legitimate government. We will do everything to ensure Turkey's security, even outside our borders," he said. "First Cyprus, now Libya: we destroyed the plot hatched against us and signed a protocol on jurisdiction in the waters of the eastern Mediterranean. In 2020 we will speed up research and drilling operations. The Oruc Reis will carry out seismological research."

On 27 November, the Turkish president signed two memoranda of understanding with the Libyan government of Fayez al Serraj: the first concerning Turkish jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean, the second concerning military cooperation, troop training, up to sending Turkish soldiers. Last week Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an appeal for a ceasefire in Libya starting Sunday. However, the truce was not accepted by the Libyan general Khalifa Haftar, who continues his offensive on Tripoli.

Waiting for the Berlin Conference
Peace in Libya will depend in part on the success of the Berlin Conference on January 19th. And the success of the Berlin Conference will depend entirely on the authoritativeness of those who will participate. So in the last hours the rumors are chasing about confirmed and denied presences and absences of the leaders holding the Libyan dossier. From the United States, several sources write, including the pan-Arab newspaper al Sharq al Awsat, the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, will surely arrive, and could be accompanied by the National Security Advisor, Robert O'Brien. A clear signal from Washington that he still wants to have a say in Libya. From Berlin, writes Al Jazeera, the presence of the two main architects of the truce in force since last Sunday is confirmed: the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And again: the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah al Sisi, will be at the table, despite the disagreements with Ankara. The UN will be represented at the highest level with the intervention of the secretary general, Antonio Guterres.

There are still no official confirmations from Libya on who will fly to Germany. Both the president of the government of national agreement, Fayez al Serraj, and his opponent, the general of Cyrenaica Khalifa Haftar, have been officially invited. Today the German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, reiterated the invitation during a phone call with al Serraj. According to his adviser, Hassan El Honi, he will participate. But still nothing official. The same is true for Haftar, given for sure yesterday by Al Arabiya. At European level, obviously, Italy, the great sponsor of the Conference, is expected to participate with the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte.

Chancellor Angela Merkel will do the honors of the house and will probably receive, among others, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. The EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, as well as some members of the African Union will certainly not be missing, as well as the new Algerian president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune and the new Tunisian president, Kais Saied. Surely even the Emirati will send their own representative. There will also be China, increasingly present in Africa.