GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2020) Italy is concerned about the issue of Turkish-backed forces who arrive from Syria to join the Libyan conflict and wants the peace negotiations in Berlin to give priority to the problem, President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Senate Vito Petrocelli told Sputnik in an interview.
On January 19, Berlin hosted an international conference on Libya featuring a number of countries and organizations, including Russia, Turkey, Egypt, the United States, the European Union and the African Union. A joint communique was adopted at the conference in which the signatories pledged to refrain from assisting the rival parties and observe an arms embargo on Libya. However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will maintain a military presence in Libya to support the Government of National Accord (GNA) in the fight against the Libyan National Army (LNA).
"Personally, I am particularly concerned about the arrival of unidentified 'mercenaries' from Syria with the backing of Turkey. For years they have been called 'moderate rebels' in the Syrian conflict, and then we discovered that they were mostly jihadists linked to the most dangerous terrorist organizations. If they are arriving in huge numbers a few miles from Italy, it is a problem that we must consider as a priority in these negotiations," Petrocelli said.
According to Petrocelli, the parties to the Libyan conflict continue to "ignore what was signed in Berlin," recalling that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the current situation in Libya a "scandal" over the violation of the UN arms embargo. The lawmaker stated that, given that new mercenaries and weapons were still arriving in Libya, the January peace talks in Berlin was only the first step in resolving the crisis in the country.
Petrocelli stated that Rome was making every effort so "that the agreement on the truce reached in Berlin becomes a lasting ceasefire," adding that this could be reached only on the condition of participation of military commanders of the both sides in the dialogue.
The lawmaker expressed hope that by the next ministerial meeting in Berlin in mid-March, the parties would achieve the lasting ceasefire and could move ahead with the launch of political process.
"We hope that by mid-March the ceasefire will already be in place, and I hope that the next conference will discuss the launch of the political process of the reconstruction of the Libyan nation. We must never forget that today Libya is a failed state, a country which has been torn apart and socially destroyed, a country that has been the victim of a terrible civil war because of the NATO 2011 military aggression. The West has a moral obligation towards the Libyan people and this should be the main topic on the agenda at the March conference," the lawmaker said.
Libya has been torn apart between the internationally recognized GNA and the rival LNA of Khalifa Haftar since 2011 after the ouster and assassination of then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Tensions escalated last year after the LNA began its operation to retake the GNA-held capital of Tripoli.
