A few hours after the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s speech during his visit to the Egyptian Air Force combat units in the western military region yesterday, in the presence of the Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff of the Egyptian army and the leaders of the main branches of the armed forces, the Israeli Jerusalem Post wrote: Are Egypt and Turkey heading to war? in Lybia?
And before the newspaper report went into the answer to the question, he cited Al-Sisi's hint in his speech about the possibility of military intervention in Libya, and his saying that this matter "has become available to him international legitimacy, either for self-defense or based on the sole legitimate authority elected in Libya," in a reference from him. To the House of Representatives in Tobruk.
The newspaper considered that Sisi's speech comes in response to "Turkey's increased military intervention in Libya in recent months, as ships were sent off the coast, and aircraft to bring weapons, mercenaries and unmanned armed aircraft to the country."
She added that the apparent "Turkish military intervention is to support the Al-Wefaq government in Tripoli, but it is in fact part of Turkey's desire to play a greater role in exploring energy in the Mediterranean and weakening the Libyan opposition forces backed by Egypt."
In the context of answering the question, the Israeli newspaper says that Egypt "owns a huge army, but it also has not been tested mostly in foreign battlefields," adding that Egypt "has been fighting terrorists in Sinai for years and has not defeated them."
Comparisons
The newspaper report then turns to some operations carried out by the Turkish army, saying, "Turkey has been sending its army to Syria for years to fight the PKK. But last February, Turkish forces clashed with the Syrian regime and destroyed their armored vehicles and air defense. It recently invaded northern Iraq as well." In a new operation, the Turkish navy was also more involved with the French navy in the Mediterranean that is alleged to support General Khalifa Haftar, as well as the Greek navy operating with Egypt. "
In the context of the comparison with the Egyptian army in this regard, the newspaper asked in its report: When was the last time Egypt faced another real air force? She answers, "Not decades ago," and the report goes on to compare the armament of the Egyptian and Turkish armies, saying they "match well. They both have F-16s and hundreds of combat aircraft."
"On paper, the Egyptian army ranks ninth in the ranks of the world's most powerful armies, with its thousands of tanks. It is believed that the Turkish Armed Forces ranks 11th on the list of the most powerful armies in the world, and the armies of the two countries use Western weapons systems linked to the United States or NATO, ), And it will likely make Turkey's work with NATO more effective than Egypt. "
Another quasi-face sees the newspaper report that he is present in the tasks of the two armies, "Both countries are involved in counterinsurgency campaigns," adding that Egypt is close to Libya and can easily move a brigade or armored forces to the front line, but concludes that "it is likely that they prefer to use mercenaries". Syrian rebels to do their job. "
Moves
In assessing the accounts of the parties concerned with the situation in Libya, the newspaper report stated, "There are other wheels moving, as Russia requested that the United States work with it on Libya. The Russian Foreign Minister canceled a meeting with his Turkish counterpart scheduled for June 16, a feeling of what It seems that Turkey will not budge from Libya, and that the meeting will be a waste of time. Turkey went directly to US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in the hope that Merkel will communicate with France and Greece.
The newspaper believes that Merkel is "the main supporter of the Ankara regime, and sells tanks to Turkey and also seeks to host the Libyan talks. Germany is pushing Turkey through the European Union to prevent Syrian refugees from coming to Europe, and these Syrians are now sent to Libya by Turkey, and this works for Germany." For its part, Russia may try to escalate the tension in Idlib, Syria, to pressure Turkey in Libya.
The report restores the question previously posed, but in another form that compares the importance of Egypt and Turkey to America today, saying that the big question now is, "Will Sisi send the army to Libya? Or will the United States listen to Egypt's concerns and encourage a ceasefire?"
And he considered that the United States "is having difficulty not following Ankara's orders because the latter could threaten American forces in eastern Syria."
According to the Israeli newspaper, there is a lobby in Washington that "believes that Ankara will head towards Iran and Russia one day, and that the United States should give it more concessions to make it stop working with Moscow and Tehran, and thus the United States and Iran may find themselves on the same side in Libya via Turkey." And it all depends on Cairo now. If Egypt has a military force in Libya, it can do what Turkey has successfully done and benefit from it to obtain concessions. "
"At the moment, Egypt should watch and reflect on the next step. While everyone is also looking to Washington to do more than just hint that it supports Egypt's proposal for a ceasefire and the Ankara approach. What will happen next will also affect Washington's allies," the newspaper report concludes. Others in Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. "