Category: Libya

Libya and Turkey in military deal

Libya and Turkey have signed an agreement under which the Turkish army is to provide technical assistance to the Libyan military to help secure the land, sea and air borders as well as the oil installations in the eastern part of the country.

The Benghazi-based newpaper, Corina, said its website on Saturday that the agreement followed a visit a Turkish delegation to the eastern town Derna and that the deal included the installation of integrated cameras and electronic surveillance equipment, maintenance and repair of airports as well as the construction of some new one in the Libyan interior.

The newspaper stated also that the agreement between the Libyan and Turkish Defence Ministries included the establishment of border observation posts, the renovation of some ports and to supply the units of revolutionaries who have joined the state security services with equipment including coastguard boats. The agreement is also said to make provision for the short training courses for those former revolutionaries in the east of the country who have recently joined the Libyan army and police. It is joped in order to qualify them and thus hopes to have the eastern region a model that can be applied to all other Libyan cities.

The newspaper quoted the Libyan Defense Ministry Undersecretary, Colonel Hussein Shokri, saying that under the agreement the Turkish army would assist the Libyan army in securing borders and strategic locations as well as provide the latest technology to help prevent smuggling and border infiltration.

Shokri confirmed that a joint committee had been formed to implement the agreement. As part of it, a number of former revolutionaries as well as regular soldiers would be sent within days for training at military colleges in Turkey.

The newspaper also quoted Libyan Director of Relations and International Cooperation Brigadier General Hamad Muftah Shelwi saying that an agreement had also been made with Turkey for the supply of unmanned aircraft to control the Libyan borders and as well as patrol boats to deal with illegal immigration issue, smuggling and other clandestine activities.

via Libya and Turkey in military deal: report | Libya Herald.

May 21, 2012
Libya to send 2,500 ex-rebels for police training in Jordan, Turkey in 1st stage

By Associated Press,

BENGHAZI, Libya — The Libyan government says it will send former rebels abroad to receive police training in an effort to rebuild the country’s battered security forces.

The transitional government says more than 2,500 former rebels will be sent to Jordan and Turkey for the first round of training. No timetable was given.

Some 10,000 Libyans will eventually train in Jordan in several stages, the government said. More than 1,300 will be sent to Turkey, in accordance with signed agreements.

Both Turkey and Jordan threw their support behind the rebels who toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s regime last year after months of civil war.

The Libyan government on Monday also approved changing the color of Libyan passports from green, symbolic of Gadhafi’s rule, to dark blue.

via Libya to send 2,500 ex-rebels for police training in Jordan, Turkey in 1st stage – The Washington Post.

March 20, 2012
Gaddafi ‘contributed €50m to Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential election fund’

Colonel Gaddafi in Paris after a meeting with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy in December 2007. Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

French president hit by new claims as confidential note suggests ex-Libyan leader helped finance his election campaign

Damaging new claims have emerged about the funding of Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign and his links with former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi emerged.

The French investigative website Mediapart claims to have seen a confidential note suggesting Gaddafi contributed up to €50m (£42m) to Sarkozy’s election fund five years ago.

Similar allegations emerged a year ago when Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam claimed Libya helped finance the 2007 campaign and demanded the French president, who led the war on the Libyan leader, return the money.

In an interview with the Euronews TV channel, Saif al-Islam, who is currently being held in Libya after his father’s defeat and death, threatened to make details of the bank transfers public after the French leader threw his weight behind opposition forces.

The latest allegations come at a crucial time for Sarkozy who is seeking a second term in office in a two-round election in under six weeks.

Mediapart journalist Fabrice Arfi told the Guardian he had seen leaked documents contained in the legal dossier of the affair, currently under investigation by a judge.

“We knew these documents existed but it is the first time we have had the details of what was in them,” he said.

“And there are lots of details, including dates, places and amounts.”

One document, a government briefing note, allegedly points to visits to Libya by Sarkozy and his close colleagues and advisers, which it says were aimed at securing campaign funding.

Shortly after Sarkozy’s election, Colonel Gaddafi was invited to Paris and allowed to pitch his bedouin tent in the grounds of an official French residence close to the Elysée Palace. He was described as the “Brother Leader” by the French.

When previously asked about Saif al-Islam’s claims, a spokesman for the Elysée Palace told Le Monde: “We deny it, quite evidently.”

guardin.co.uk

March 16, 2012
Libya wants Turkish companies to return

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) poses with Libya’s Prime Minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib after their a press conference in Istanbul on Feb. 25. (AFP)

By The Associated Press

ANKARA / TURKEY

Turkey’s prime minister called on Libya on Saturday to disband militia forces to restore security and assume full power in the country, even as his Libyan counterpart invited Turkish companies to return to Libya to finish construction projects worth billions of dollars.

Turkish contractors were involved in 214 building projects, including hospitals, shopping malls and five-star hotels worth more than $15 billion in Libya before last year’s uprising against Muammar Qaddafi. When Turkey swiftly evacuated its 25,000 workers during the chaos, Turkish leaders assured Libya that they would return.

It is still not clear how or when that could happen even though Qaddafi has been deposed and killed.

Hundreds of armed militias, who drove Qaddafi from power, are holding the real power in Libya, and the government that took his place is largely impotent, unable to rein in fighters, rebuild decimated institutions or stop widespread corruption.

The National Transitional Council, which officially rules the country, is struggling to incorporate the militias into the military and police, while trying to get the economy back on its feet and reshape government ministries, courts and other institutions hollowed out under Qaddafi.

“The success of the transition process in Libya is proportioned with the establishment of security. I believe the Libyan administration will never concede from this,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a joint news conference with his Libyan counterpart, Abdel Rahim al-Keib. “In this framework, it is of primary importance that the security forces be restructured and militia forces disbanded.”

Turkey’s police chief recently visited Libya to hold talks on restructuring and training the country’s police force and Erdogan said “we are taking a series of steps both in supplying equipment and training.”

Turkey seeks to lead in the region, advocating democracy in the Middle East and North Africa. And it is increasingly seen as a regional model because of its democratic system, economic development and Muslim identity.

“We see Turkey as a model,” al-Keib said. “We hope that Turkish companies come back as soon as possible.”

Al-Keib asked for help from Turkey in rebuilding Libya, training its police force as well as equipping its hospitals. Hundreds of wounded Libyans have been treated in Turkey.

Turkey, NATO’s largest Muslim member, initially balked at the idea of military action in Libya but it gradually broke long-standing ties with Qaddafi and began supporting the alliance’s airstrikes against targets linked to his regime.

The seeds of Turkey’s friendly ties with Libya were laid during a U.S. arms embargo following Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974, when Libya provided Turkey with spare parts to operate U.S.-made jets. Since then, Turkish builders have become a mainstay of foreign business in Libya, despite an influx by Chinese, Russians and others later.

The bilateral trade was $2.4 billion in favor of Turkey before the uprising and the two countries have waived travel visas to boost that trade.

Erdogan said Turkish Airlines will increase its flights to Libya from 28 to 42 to improve trade and initiate tourism between the countries.

via Libya wants Turkish companies to return.

February 26, 2012
Turkey, Libya discuss Turkish companies’ return

ANKARA, Turkey—Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey and Libya are assessing losses incurred by Turkish construction companies during the anti-Gadhafi uprising as well as discussing their return to the country.

Erdogan also said Saturday that Turkey would support efforts to restore security in Libya, saying the country was sending material to equip police and that a security delegation would travel there next month.

Erdogan was speaking at a news conference with the visiting chairman of Libya’s National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil.

Turkish companies were involved in Libyan construction projects worth billions of dollars before the outbreak of the anti-Gadhafi uprising in February.

via Turkey, Libya discuss Turkish companies’ return – Boston.com.

December 18, 2011
Turkey To Help Ukraine In Liberating Ukrainians Detained In Libya

Turkey will help Ukraine in liberating Ukrainian citizens detained in Libya, reads a statement made by the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Ahmet Davutoglu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, has announced this at a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko.

Davutoglu also remarks, Turkish diplomatic institutions in regions of Turkey’s established political-diplomatic influence will be consistently assisting the Ukrainian foreign-policy agency in defending Ukrainians’ legitimate interests.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, 22 Ukrainian citizens are still under arrest to the room in Tripoli, Libya.

The new Libyan authorities suspect them of collaboration with Muammar Gaddafi, former Libyan leader deposed in the 2011 civil war.

via Ukranian News – Turkey To Help Ukraine In Liberating Ukrainians Detained In Libya.

December 7, 2011