Back to the sender. It is Ankara's turn to reply: "By the support it has given for years to illegitimate actors, France has a significant share of responsibility in the descent of Libya into chaos," said the spokesman. from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Hami Aksoy, Tuesday, June 23. From this point of view, it is in reality France who is playing a dangerous game. "

The day before, Emmanuel Macron had estimated that Turkey "was playing a dangerous game" in Libya, where Ankara militarily supports the government of national unity (GNA) of Tripoli against the forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the strong man of the East of the country.

The latter is supported by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia. France, although it denies it publicly, is also accused by Ankara and a number of analysts of supporting it.

"The Libyan people will never forget the damage done to their country by France"

"If Emmanuel Macron operated his memory and displayed his common sense, he would remember that the difficulties that Libya is currently experiencing are due to the attacks of the putschist Haftar whom he supports," said Hami Aksoy in a press release.

"Even if President Macron strives to conceal this reality by laying unfounded accusations against our country, the Libyan people will never forget the damage caused to their country by France in the pursuit of their selfish interests," he said. -he adds.

Growing tension between France and Turkey

Relations between Ankara and Paris, allies within NATO, were aggravated by disagreements over Libya and due to a maritime incident involving ships from the two countries in the Mediterranean.

The situation in Libya has deteriorated in recent weeks. After several months of offensive towards Tripoli, the forces of Haftar underwent scathing reverses vis-a-vis the GNA, supported by drones and Turkish military advisers. GNA forces are now targeting the coastal city of Sirte (450 km east of Tripoli), a strategic lock towards the stronghold of Haftar.

On Saturday, Egypt warned that any advance by pro-GNA towards Sirte could lead to a "direct" intervention from Cairo. The UN-recognized GNA denounced the threats from Egypt as a "declaration of war". Since the fall of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 after a popular revolt, Libya has been plunged into the chaos of conflicts and power struggles.

With AFP

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