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deal because of a GNA plan to attack and seize Sirte, about halfway between GNA-held Tripoli and LNA-held Benghazi, and the closest city to Libya’s main energy export terminals.
“Russia wants Turkey and the GNA to halt military operations, particularly not attacking Sirte, Jufra and the oil crescent – and Ankara has rebuffed this demand,” Galip Dalay, a fellow at Robert Bosch Academy, told Reuters. “If Turkish-Russian talks don’t bear fruit, we might then see escalation both in Libya and in Syria’s Idlib region [where Ankara and Moscow also back opposing sides],” he added.
France, Turkey in war of words
Recent days, meanwhile, have seen Turkey and France enter into a war of words over the situation in Libya.
In an interview with La Croix newspaper
BALKAN BLOG:
on June 16, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian reiterated that Paris was not taking sides in Libya, but said that Turkey endangered European security by sending Syrian fighters to the country. “It’s a danger to ourselves, an unacceptable strategic risk, because it’s 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the Italian coast,” he said.
France has denied claims that it supports Haftar, though it previously gave him assistance in fighting Islamist militants. It has also stopped short of criticising countries that openly support him, such as Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, while it has repeatedly criticised Turkey’s stance.
Insisting Paris has swung behind Haftar, Turkey on June 16 angrily accused France of exacerbating the crisis in Libya and violating UN and Nato decisions
by supporting his forces against the
internationally recognised GNA. France has called for talks among Nato allies on what it said was Turkey’s increasingly “aggressive” role in Libya and breaching of a UN arms embargo in arming the GNA, prompting Turkey’s foreign ministry to respond angrily. “The support France has provided to the putschist and pirate Haftar... has exacerbated the crisis in Libya,” it said in a statement.
“What should actually be a cause for concern are France’s dark ties. It is unacceptable for a Nato ally to behave this way,” it added.
Ankara has sent military advisers and trainers, along with allied Syrian militia fighters, to Libya to support the GNA. Russia appears to have sent Syrian adversaries of the militia fighters to fight for the LNA in the conflict.
Gangster-style photos from Bulgarian PM’s bedroom ratchet up dirty war with anonymous enemy
Denitsa Koseva in Sofia
Boyko Borissov’s third term as Bulgaria’s prime minister has been shaken severely by constant scandals since the beginning, but none of them compare to the latest, a direct attack on the veteran politician in what appears to be a dirty war with an unknown enemy.
Earlier in June, local media received anonymous photographs of Borissov sleeping in his bedroom next to a Glock 9mm handgun and a drawer full of €500 bills and gold bars. The prime minister has confirmed their authenticity, saying they were taken in the residence he is using as premier.
The photos were revealed several days after local media received, again
anonymously, a recording of a phone conversation between two people,
one of whose voice and tone sound like Borissov’s. During the conversation, he tells his interlocutor, whose identity is unknown, how he pushed theoretically independent authorities to put
pressure on businessmen or to stop deals. In the same conversation, the person calls Parliament Speaker Tsveta Karayancheva a vulgar epithet, claiming she is stupid. Several EU leaders were also mentioned in the recording, again accompanied by vulgar statements. There was no proof of the authenticity of this recording, which was revealed
a day before Borissov’s birthday.
The photos provoked various reactions
in the country – not least speculation as to who was behind their distribution to the media – although its citizens are getting fed up with scandals and are more apathetic than angry.
Falling colossus
Borissov has built an image of an almighty strongman who controls everyone in the country and can change everything whenever he likes. However, the photos have raised questions about his power, as they appear to show he has an enemy very close to him.
Analysts have commented that, no matter who ordered and executed them, they are a sign of a dirty war that might put an end to Borissov’s political career.
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