Turkish writer Recep Soylu said that Ankara was angry at the Saturday attack that targeted the strategic al-Wataya base in Libya and damaged Turkish air defense systems, as officials warned that the attack would likely escalate the conflict in the North African country.

Soilo added - in his report on Middle East Eye - that Turkey is cautious about declaring who it thinks is responsible, although it is not afraid to show its anger at the retired brigade, Khalifa Haftar, in eastern Libya, which Ankara is fighting its forces.

"The only thing I can say: Whoever did this has made a huge mistake, and there is no escape from punishment," a Turkish official familiar with the matter told the British website.

A second official said the plane targeting the base was likely to be Dassault Mirage 2000 fighters, owned by the Emirates, which - along with Egypt and Russia - are Haftar militarily, and the official added that "there are no human casualties."

“The only thing I can say is: Whoever did this has committed a grave mistake, and there is no escape from punishment.” Turkish official

The attack destroyed some Turkish air defense systems at the base, and Turkey last week deployed MIM-23 surface-to-air missiles in the area. The attack came on Saturday evening, hours after the Turkish Defense Minister, Khulusi Akar, visited Libya.

Soilo said there are other signs that the UAE may have attacked the Turkish forces. He referred to what the professor of political science and part-time consultant of the Emirati ruling family Abd al-Khaliq Abdullah said - in a tweet that was now deleted - that "the UAE taught the Turks a lesson."

Several Libyan sources close to the government of National Accord - which Turkey supports against Haftar - said that the likely perpetrator is the Emirates, whose plane may have launched from a base in Egypt.

Imra Kikli (a security analyst specializing in Libya at the Sita Research Center in Ankara) considered the attack a form of "harassment" to halt the government's ambition to restore the central city of Sirte, which is near the oil crescent, and the strategic Al-Jafra airbase.

He said that the Watiyah attack should be taken into consideration alongside Egypt's recent announcement that Sirte constituted a "red line", in addition to French aggressive action against Turkey in NATO, and Russian steps to control oil fields.

"All they want is to stop the progress of the National Accord government, and they can continue to harass Tripoli, Misurata and other regions if they keep Al-Jafra in their hands, and they clearly do not want a serious political path," Kiklee said.

Many observers in Ankara believe that Haftar and his supporters want a ceasefire to temporarily freeze the conflict and to reorganize themselves, after which they spark another wave of fighting to return again to the territory of the Al-Wefaq government in the west.

"What would persuade Haftar to lay down arms and join the legitimate government? We all know that he will accept nothing but the complete seizure of the country," Kiklee asked.