The showdown between Libya’s two rival prime ministers — Fathi Bashagha, appointed by the eastern-based parliament, and Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, the head of the Tripoli-based government who refuses to cede power — is pushing Turkey to play more openly and assertively in the conflict.

Turkey, which maintains military and militia forces in Libya, has been irked by Bashagha’s teaming up with eastern forces, namely Khalifa Hifter, the commander of the Libyan National Army, and Aquila Saleh, the head of the House of Representatives, to unseat Dbeibah’s interim government. Ankara had worked closely with Bashagha during his term as interior minister in the previous interim government in Tripoli. But for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a Bashagha government under the influence of Hifter and Saleh, who have fiercely opposed Turkey’s military presence in Libya, might mean losing the assurances that Dbeibah offers. Still, Erdogan keeps the door open to Bashagha while maintaining support for Dbeibah’s Government of National Unity (GNU). Though Turkey is wary of provoking clashes at a critical juncture in Libya, the fact remains that its military, intelligence and diplomatic presence in Tripoli affects the equilibrium and makes the playground safer for Dbeibah.

Following the GNU’s formation under UN auspices last year, Turkey had sought contacts with eastern actors in a bid to thaw the ice with the forces that fought its Libyan allies. Yet the quest for a new beginning with the east faltered in February as the House of Representatives selected Bashagha to form a new government on the grounds that Dbeibah’s mandate ended Dec. 24 when the failed elections were to be held under a UN-brokered peace plan.

Now, many believe the positions of the United States and Turkey will be decisive in tipping the scale. The two Libyan camps came to the brink of an armed confrontation March 10 when forces loyal to Bashagha moved from Misrata toward Tripoli but were stopped by forces loyal to Dbeibah.