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Turkish intervention risks Syria scenario for Libya: experts

Turkey's decision to approve the deployment of troops to Libya risks plunging the North African nation deeper into a Syrian-style proxy war between regional powers including Russia, experts warn.
Libya has been mired in conflict since a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with rival administrations in the east and the west battling for supremacy.
Turkey and Qatar have taken the side of the UN-recognised government of national accord (GNA) in the capital Tripoli, which has been under sustained attack since April from the forces of eastern-based military strongman General Khalifa Haftar.
Haftar, who has superior airpower, is backed by Turkey's regional rivals -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
On Thursday, Turkish MPs passed a bill approving a military deployment in Libya to bolster the beleaguered GNA.
No date was given for the potential troop deployment, which would draw Ankara deeper into a conflict in which Haftar's forces, who oppose Islamist movements close to Ankara, have the upper hand.
Ankara has already sent the GNA drones, according to the United Nations.
Some reports have suggested that Ankara has sent in some of the Syrian rebels that led a Turkish intervention against a Kurdish militia in northeast Syria in October.
Haftar's army, meanwhile, has reportedly received backing from hundreds of Russian mercenaries from private military group Wagner, believed to be controlled by an ally of President Vladimir Putin.
Russia, whose military intervention in Syria helped turn the tide of that conflict in President Bashar al-Assad's favor in 2015, has denied sending mercenaries to Libya.
But the UN's Libya envoy, Ghassan Salame, has said himself that Russian mercenaries are indeed operating on the ground and has accused several countries of violating a 2011 UN arms embargo on Libya.
Salame has slammed the foreign interference in a conflict that has turned Libya into a haven for jihadists and migrant smugglers.
"Arms are coming in from everywhere," he told AFP in an interview in late November, accusing unnamed "external parties" of causing increased civilian casualties through drone strikes.
Like the Syrian conflict, the Libyan war has developed into a "very complex" power play between Ankara and Moscow who are not allies but whose interests sometimes converge, Jalal Harchaoui, a researcher on Libya at Dutch think-tank Clingendael Institute, told AFP.
Russia and Turkey support opposing sides in the Syrian civil war but together launched peace talks with Iran that effectively killed off UN-sponsored talks in Geneva.
Moscow also initially stood back while Ankara intervened against Kurdish rebels in northeast Syria in October, allowing Ankara to carve out a buffer zone along its border before negotiating a ceasefire.
"Could something similar happen in Libya? My answer is yes," Salame told France's Le Monde newspaper in a recent interview.
Harchaoui noted that there had "never been a direct clash between Turks and Russians on Syrian soil" and predicted that they would also avoid confrontation in Libya.
Underpinning the strategies of both countries was "the same anti-European, post-American logic," he said.
Europe, meanwhile, has been relegated to the role of onlookers, in a war which has facilitated the smuggling of migrants across the Mediterranean from Libya to Europe.
Attempts by French President Emmanuel Macron to broker a peace deal by inviting Haftar to talks in Paris with the GNA in 2017 have come to naught.
As France scales back its mediation attempts following criticism of its perceived pro-Haftar bias, Germany has stepped in to try to fill the void.
Berlin has invited regional players to a UN-backed conference in Berlin planned for January.
"The West isn't leading the way in Libya. The Russians and Turks will do their own Yalta on Libya," Harchaoui predicted, in an allusion to the conference at which the US, USSR, and Britain decided on the post-war order in Europe in 1945.
Moscow and Ankara are operating on the assumption that the US, which has withdrawn some troops from Syria and Afghanistan, has "disappeared from the scene", Harchaoui added.
For Emadeddin Badi, an expert at the Middle East Institute in Washington, Turkey's aim is "to force a political settlement that guarantees the survival of the GNA" and preserves its economic interests in Libya.
In November, Ankara signed a maritime agreement with Tripoli that angered Greece and Cyprus by dividing much of the energy-rich Eastern Mediterranean between itself and Libya.
Nathan Vest, a Middle East expert at the US policy institute Rand Corporation, described the deal as part of a "broader competition for resource equities and influence in the eastern Mediterranean".
source: AFP
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BENEFIT Sponsors BuildHer...
- April 23, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”
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