{"id":42290,"date":"2020-01-16T09:22:30","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T09:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=42290"},"modified":"2020-01-16T09:22:30","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T09:22:30","slug":"intense-fighting-in-syrias-idlib-kills-39","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=42290","title":{"rendered":"Intense fighting in Syria\u2019s Idlib kills 39"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nANKARA:\u00a0Turkey\u2019s main opposition leader on Tuesday urged Ankara to play a mediation role in Libya between the country\u2019s two rival camps, rather than siding with the Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Fayez Al-Sarraj.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe\u2019ve \u2026 urged the government not to follow the Syria policy in Libya. We told them not to support one side, but try to mediate between the fighting parties. Turkey has \u2026 followed this policy between Iran and Iraq, for instance,\u201d said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican People\u2019s Party (CHP).<\/p>\n

\nHe also urged the government to mend ties with other countries in the region, especially Syria, Israel and Egypt.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cRather than trying to assume the role of an honest broker, the government has preferred to take part in regional conflicts, which has caused great damage to Turkey,\u201d Kilicdaroglu said, citing the Syrian conflict.<\/p>\n

\nTurkey backs Al-Sarraj\u2019s Tripoli-based government against forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Haftar, who is based in eastern Libya.<\/p>\n

\nAnkara recently sent military advisers to Libya to reinforce its support to the GNA, in return for a controversial maritime agreement in Mediterranean waters.<\/p>\n

\nTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened a large-scale military intervention after he obtained parliamentary approval.<\/p>\n

\nAriz Kader, an independent researcher on regional conflicts, said Kilicdaroglu is urging the government to become a mediator because this is what the Turkish public wants to hear.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cErdogan is trying to save his last Muslim Brotherhood ally in North Africa. It\u2019s something he can\u2019t say outright without giving up the game,\u201d Kader told Arab News.<\/p>\n

\nUnal Cevikoz, the CHP\u2019s deputy chairman responsible for foreign relations, said the deterioration in Ankara\u2019s ties with regional countries such as Israel and Egypt undermines Turkey\u2019s role as an honest broker, especially in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean. Deploying troops abroad is also triggering accusations of neo-Ottomanism, he added.<\/p>\n

\nTurkey does not currently have ambassadors in Syria, Israel or Egypt due to tensions with those countries. Ankara began explicit contacts with Damascus at the level of spy chiefs only two days ago.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cTo assume a mediation role, Turkey should begin by prioritizing the role of the UN in the Libyan crisis rather than insisting on hard-power capabilities, which only serves to escalate the conflict even further,\u201d Cevikoz told Arab News.<\/p>\n

\nTo regain its reliability in the eyes of the international community, Turkey has to drop its policy of taking sides in regional conflicts, said Cevikoz, a former ambassador to the UK.<\/p>\n

\nMeanwhile, Erdogan warned on Tuesday that Turkey will not refrain from \u201cteaching a lesson\u201d to Haftar if his forces continue to attack the people and government in Tripoli.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt\u2019s our duty to protect our kin in Libya,\u201d Erdogan said, referring to Libyans of Turkish origin.<\/p>\n

\nGermany will be hosting a summit on Libya with the UN on Sunday to gather the rival camps.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANKARA:\u00a0Turkey\u2019s main opposition leader on Tuesday urged Ankara to play a mediation role in Libya between the country\u2019s two rival camps, rather than siding with the Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Fayez Al-Sarraj. \u201cWe\u2019ve \u2026 urged the government not to follow the Syria policy in Libya. We told them not to support one…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":42291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}