Turkish MPs overwhelmingly voted to send Turkish troops to Libya
The Turkish parliament has approved a bill allowing the government to deploy troops to Libya to quell down a civil war ravaging the country.
On Tuesday, 325 MPs voted in favour to 184 against sending troops to Libya.
This decision was taken since Turkey is allied with Libya’s UN-backed government headquartered in the capital, Tripoli.
The government of Libya has been fighting an insurgency by forces loyal to Gen Khalifa Haftar based in eastern Libya.
In a phone call with Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US President, Donald Trump warned against “foreign interference” in Libya, according to the White House.
However, Egypt which backs Gen Haftar, condemned Turkey’s vote, saying it would “negatively affect the stability of the Mediterranean region”.
Last week, Erdogan said he would seek parliamentary approval to provide military support after the government of Tripoli lodged in the request.
According to the bill, turkey will deploy non-combat troops to advise and train government forces against Haftar.
But experts fear that the legislation could deepen Turkey’s involvement in the conflict and also augment tensions with Gen Haftar’s backers: Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Russia.
Turkish Vice-President, Fuat Oktay said the bill would be valid for one year, but did not give details about the scale of the potential military deployment.
