Erdogan Prepares a New Military Intervention, Sending Troops to Libya

Source: New York Times

ISTANBUL — Just months after mounting a third military incursion into Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is preparing another military intervention abroad, this time to dispatch troops to Libya.

He has arranged a special session of Parliament, where his party holds a majority, for Thursday to approve the plan, which will almost certainly pass.

The Libya gambit is no doubt the latest example of Turkey’s growing self-confidence as a regional power, analysts say. But some have begun to wonder why Mr. Erdogan is looking to get involved more deeply there now, pointing out that domestic politics are never far from Mr. Erdogan’s calculations.

Mr. Erdogan has also long held an ambition for a kind of restoration of the Ottoman Empire, re-establishing Turkey’s position of leadership in the Muslim world with an expansive foreign policy. That aspiration is popular at home, and the mission in Libya, part of the former Ottoman domain, fits nearly into that vision.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/world/europe/erdogan-turkey-libya.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur