Turkey Resumes Sending Mercenaries to Libya

Pro-Turkish Syrian fighters gather near the Turkish village of Akinci along the border with Syria. File photo: AFP
Pro-Turkish Syrian fighters gather near the Turkish village of Akinci along the border with Syria. File photo: AFP
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Turkey Resumes Sending Mercenaries to Libya

Pro-Turkish Syrian fighters gather near the Turkish village of Akinci along the border with Syria. File photo: AFP
Pro-Turkish Syrian fighters gather near the Turkish village of Akinci along the border with Syria. File photo: AFP

Turkey has stepped up its military involvement in Libya and will resume sending mercenaries to Libya, according to sources.

Reliable sources informed the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) that Ankara intends to send a new batch of Syrian fighters to Libya in the next few days, despite the ongoing negotiations for a political solution after the agreement on the ceasefire between Libyan parties.

The Observatory reported that the return of Turkish-backed Syrian mercenaries has been suspended for over 20 days, since the latest batch arrived in Syria in mid-November.

SOHR reported that about 18,000 Syrian mercenaries arrived in Libya, including 350 children under the age of 18, of whom 10,750 returned to Syria after completing the duration of their contracts and receiving their salaries.

The number of extremists transported from Syria to Libya has reached 10,000, including 2,500 Tunisians, to support the Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Fayez al-Sarraj.

The Observatory indicated that 496 Syrians have been killed in Libya.

Meanwhile, GNA considered the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on security and military cooperation signed with Turkey on November 27, 2019, “legitimate and in compliance with international laws."

GNA Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Mohammed el-Geblawi told Anadolu Agency that the MoU is not similar to the support Libyan National Army chief Khalifa Haftar receives from many countries.

Geblawi was referring to the recent statement of UN Acting Special Representative Stephanie Williams on foreign presence in the country.

During the third virtual meeting of the second round of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), Williams said that the foreigners are not guests, but are now "occupying" the country, adding that the 20,000 foreign fighters and mercenaries are causing a “serious crisis.”

“That is a shocking violation of Libyan sovereignty … a blatant violation of the arms embargo.”

Geblawi said the remarks are not acceptable and should be supported by infallible evidence.

On mercenaries and the flow of weapons, he asserted that Haftar was the first to take such illegal actions that violate UN Security Council resolutions.

Geblawi reiterated that agreements and MoUs with friendly countries, such as the one signed with Turkey, are a legitimate Libyan matter.



Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
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Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo

Human rights defenders rallied on Thursday to support the top UN expert on Palestinian rights, after the United States imposed sanctions on her over what it said was unfair criticism of Israel.

Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese serves as special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, one of dozens of experts appointed by the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to report on specific global issues.

She has long criticized Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, and this month published a report accusing over 60 companies, including some US firms, of supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank and military actions in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday Albanese would be added to the US sanctions list for work which had prompted what he described as illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis at the International Criminal Court.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk urged Washington to reverse course.

"Even in the face of fierce disagreement, UN Member States should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures," he said, Reuters reported.

Juerg Lauber, the Swiss permanent representative to the UN who now holds the rotating presidency of the Human Rights Council, said he regretted the sanctions, and called on states to "refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal" against the body's experts.

Mariana Katzarova, who serves as the special rapporteur for human rights in Russia, said her concern was that other countries would follow the US lead.

"This is totally unacceptable and opens the gates for any other government to do the same," she told Reuters. "It is an attack on UN system as a whole. Member states must stand up and denounce this."

Russia has rejected Katzarova's mandate and refused to let her enter the country, but it has so far stopped short of publicly adding her to a sanctions list.

Washington has already imposed sanctions against officials at the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for suspected war crimes in Gaza. Another court, the International Court of Justice, is hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide.

Israel denies that its forces have carried out war crimes or genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza, which was precipitated by an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023.

"The United States is working to dismantle the norms and institutions on which survivors of grave abuses rely," said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

The group's former head, Kenneth Roth, called the US sanctions an attempt "to deter prosecution of Israeli war crimes and genocide in Gaza".

The United States, once one of the most active members of the Human Rights Council, has disengaged from it under President Donald Trump, alleging an anti-Israel bias.