CHP MP Asks Who are the 'Other Fighters' Turkey will Send to Libya: 'Our Concerns were Right'

Click to read the article in Turkish

Turkey might send "unidentified groups who receive orders from unidentified people" to Libya according to a deal the two countries signed, a main opposition MP told bianet.

President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday (January 6) that Turkey will have "combatant forces" other than its soldiers in Libya.

Turkey and Libya signed two different deals last month, one on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean Sea and one on military cooperation. Turkey's parliament last week passed a motion allowing the deployment of troops in Libya for one year.

Who are the 'civilians'?

According to an article in the military cooperation deal, "civilian persons who are members of defense and security agencies" will be sent to Libya, said Utku Çakırözer, a Republican People's Party (CHP) MP and a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Çakırözer said they opposed the article: "At the time, we questioned this description, which didn't exist in similar agreements, and asked, 'Who are these civilians that are members of defense and security agencies?'

"Moreover, it was revealed that the expression 'civilian personnel' was not used in the English and Arabic copies of the agreement. We also asked the reason for this.

"We stated that we were concerned about news reports based on this description. In these news reports, it was alleged that fighters would be sent to Libya by the defense company named SADAT and other similar private agencies. Moreover, it was alleged that fighters from Idlib [Syrian province] were brought to Libya.

"We asked, 'Who are these agencies? Who are these civilians?' both at the Foreign Affairs Committee and the General Assembly. But we did not receive a proper answer to this critical question in either the commission or the assembly.

"With his statements yesterday, Erdoğan named our concerns, which we sometimes had difficulties describing.

"It is understood that some groups outside of our military troops will be sent to Libya and who commands these groups and from whom these groups consist of are unclear. In Erdoğan's words, 'other combatant forces who are not our soldiers' will be sent.

"Now, we ask once again: who are these 'other combatant groups,' who are not our soldiers but will go to Libya to fight under the coordination of our soldiers?

"How are they obtained? How are they sent to Libya? Are they hired for money? Who provides food for them? How much money from the taxes of citizens is planned to be spent for these combatants? The people must know the answers to all these questions!"

Legal liabilities

"On the other hand, there is a dimension of legal responsibility," Çakırözer said, asserting that passing a motion to send troops to Libya was a similar mistake to what Turkey did when the Syrian war broke out eight years ago. In the international media, Turkey is held responsible for the acts of the Free Syrian Army and the National Syrian Army such as looting, he added.

Turkey might be held legally responsible for possible "unlawful and rights-breaching" acts of SADAT, Free Syrian Army or other fighters, Çakırözer warned. (HA/VK)