Political missteps in Libya cause Turkey's economy to stumble
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the AKP government's backing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya is inflicting billions of dollars of economic losses on Turkey and eroding its political influence in Libya and Saharan Africa.
Turkey is on the verge of losing Libya after Egypt. We are facing dwindling access to North Africa and Saharan Africa.
How can we forget Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister of a NATO member, reacting to NATO plans to intervene in Libya with, “What does NATO have to do in Libya?” But Erdogan quickly reversed himself and became a supporter of the NATO operation and embraced the opposition of Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi, who had not long before awarded him the “Gadhafi Prize for Human Rights."
Hundreds of wounded rebels were evacuated to Turkey for treatment. Leaders of the Libyan transitional administration led by Mustafa Abduljalil were received with open arms in Ankara. But the Turkey that extended all kinds of support to the rebels and spent millions of dollars on them is not wanted in Libya.
Libya-Turkey relations have had ups and downs since 1972. After the United States clamped an arms embargo on Turkey in the 1974 Cyprus Operation, support for Turkish armed forces, from spare airplane parts to fuel, had come from Libya.
