Pentagon: Turkey’s deployment to Libya threatens escalation
The United States' top military officer in Africa has warned that Ankara's decision to send troops to Libya "risks a significant escalation."
Turkey’s deployment of troops to war-torn Libya to head off the threat of private Russian military contractors threatens a significant escalation in the months-long conflict, the top US military officer in Africa said today.
Africa Command chief Gen. Stephen Townsend said the ongoing fighting in the country has left the international community “paralyzed” with “no real progress toward a political solution.”
“Turkey’s recent deployment of troops and hardware to counter the Russian PMCs risks a significant escalation as both Russia and Turkey are attempting to tip the scales in their favor,” Townsend said in a statement entered into the congressional record. “A potential bad outcome for both the US and NATO is Russia gaining access to oil and military bases with long-range anti-access area denial (A2AD) capabilities on NATO’s southern flank.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan first acknowledged that intelligence operatives supporting the Government of National Accord in Tripoli had deployed to the country in January, adding to a steady stream of weapons.
