The significance of the Turkish rush to Libya

I know, by virtue of my research experience, the motives, causes and strategic dimensions behind the move of Sultan Erdogan in Libya, and his insistence on entangling the Turkish army in a swamp that is thousands of miles away from his country. But I recently saw a Turkish media report that can be described as an ideal model for the Sultan’s own people testimony on his intentions!

The report was issued by Anatolia news agency, and it reviewed the treasures of Libya from natural resources and wealth, as it mentioned that with a limited population, it has important reserves of minerals and ores, some of which are rare, and that it needs large investments and advanced technologies to benefit from them.

Anatolia said in its report published on its website that the abundant natural resources of Libya have been from ancient times a reason to make this country a place for international ambitions, as if the Sultan had pushed his mercenaries, militias, forces and equipment to Libya in order to defend these treasures for the interest of the Libyan people and not for a clear desire to plunder these resources and take advantage of them and use them to save the faltering Turkish economy!

The report says that Libya “is not just a vast desert in the southern Mediterranean that produces only oil and some amounts of gas, as some believe, rather, this country has important mineral wealth, but it is mostly untapped, like gold, uranium, iron ore, and other minerals”. The report monitored that Libya also abounds with “important mining reserves, especially of gypsum and iron, which are used in the manufacture of several building-related materials, such as steel, cement, glass, and ceramics” The Turkish media report indicated that Libya, with its infighting in 2011, and the international economic blockade it suffered before that, “needs extensive reconstruction, especially as it is an oil and gas exporting country, and has important reserves in hard currency, in addition to iron and steel factories as well as cement factories, not to mention iron ore, gypsum and silica sand mines”. The report suggested that “the reconstruction in this country requires only a minimum level of security”, which clearly and without equivocation means that the Sultan has gone to Libya in order to plunder its wealth and provide job opportunities for the bankrupt Turkish companies due to the Turkish isolation caused by Erdogan's policies!

The report appears in some of its excerpts as if it is a feasibility study or an excerpt from a study that was prepared specifically to persuade of or to justify the motives of the Turkish move towards Libya, as the report laid out what looks like a plan that begins by restoring stability in Libya, then “attracting international companies with expertise to rebuild what was destroyed during the war, in parallel with opening domestic and foreign private investment, and focusing on the sectors of electricity, construction and public works, in the first stage, given the importance of building the infrastructure on which the State's economy is based.

The report quotes the American Energy Agency as to the Libyan shale oil stocks “the country's reserves increased from 48 billion barrels to 74 billion barrels, which makes it the first Arab country in terms of shale oil reserves and the fifth globally, after Russia, the United States, China and Argentina.” It is interesting here that the Anatolia report indicates that stocks of this shale oil are located in northwestern and southwestern Libya, which are the areas where Turkish ambitions are complicit with the Al Sarraj government!

The report includes remarkable numbers and statistics about Libyan gas reserves, their location and ranking in Africa among gas producing countries, as well as iron ore and uranium reserves, accusing France of coveting this stock! and warning against the looting of Libyan gold and rare elements in the soil (which are necessary in the manufacture of photovoltaic cells and smart phones) near the triangle of the Libyan border with Egypt and Sudan.

This Turkish media report is in itself a testimony to the intentions of the Turkish invasion of the Libyan territories and its real goals, as well as its hidden desire to implant a loyal Libyan regime that represents a thorn in the side of the Egyptian State. This report was broadcast with the aim of drawing attention to Libya's strategic importance, and of justifying Turkey's interest in defending it, however, it is also a document denouncing Erdogan's greed for the Libyan people's treasures.