Hulusi Akar's visits to Libya, Sudan and Somalia

Starting at the beginning of last week, our Minister of National Defense, Mr. Hulusi Akar, made a 4-day visit covering Libya, Sudan and Somalia. Accompanied by our Chief of the General Staff, Mr. Yaşar Güler, our special representative for Libya and Ankara MP Mr. Emrullah İşler, our TİKA President Mr. Serdar Çam, and a large delegation from the TSK and the Foreign Ministry, each stop of the visits undoubtedly had its own importance and place.

First of all, let us recall that all these countries had previously been visited by our President, during which a series of agreements and memoranda of understanding were concluded. Indeed, reaching these agreements is generally not difficult at all during such high-level visits. The extraordinary goodwill toward our President, and the meaning attributed to him, are enough to remove all obstacles to agreement on this matter.

In other words, thanks to our President's presence, this side of the work becomes the easiest. The truly difficult side is following up these agreements, consolidating the ground on which they stand, and not leaving them in words and on paper. For this, a very intensive official or unofficial diplomatic traffic undoubtedly has to operate. If this traffic fails to operate or slows down, that is enough to leave all the agreements and gains null and void.

You will remember our President's most recent visit to Sudan, about 11 months ago. The meaning the Sudanese people attributed to that visit showed everyone very well that Türkiye's legendary cultural and political depth in the region is by no means mere talk. Part of that visit covered Suakin Island in Port Sudan, and it was decided that the island, which was once an important station of the Ottoman pilgrimage caravan, would be restored by Türkiye and opened to tourism.

This decision alone, whose project and construction TİKA will undertake, delighted our friends in Sudan and the region, and correspondingly cost some people their sleep. After all, is our business not to inspire trust in the friend and fear in the enemy?

Since Türkiye has not been seen to serve any purpose other than the peace, unity and well-being of a country in any place it has entered and become influential, let whoever fears this mission continue to fear it.

I must say that the emphases Mr. Akar made to his interlocutors specifically in this direction in Libya, the first stop of the visit, were received with great sincerity and warmth. This approach makes Türkiye very different from all the international actors that have been making calculations about the country since the day the Libyan revolution began (the USA, the UAE, Egypt, France, Russia, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Iran). Because each of these actors has a calculation about the country's fragmentation, or the complete liquidation of some groups by another, or the perpetuation of disagreements, and on that basis controlling Libya's resources.

Yet in his meetings with both Fayez al-Sarraj, the Chairman of the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord, and Khalid al-Mishri, the Chairman of the High Council of State, and with other military officials, Mr. Akar emphasized in particular unity and solidarity, dialogue, and the necessity of their reaching agreement with one another for peace. This approach has in fact been Türkiye's difference from the beginning, but it is of great benefit for the parties to hear this stance of Türkiye repeated over and over. As this shows ever more clearly the difference from the attitude of other actors, Türkiye's thesis can become a more possible, more attainable option.

In fact, when evaluated in light of the latest developments in Libya, Hulusi Akar's visit was a very meaningful one in terms of its timing. On Monday, an international meeting on the dialogue between the parties in Libya will be held in the Italian city of Palermo. All parties are taking part in the meeting, including Khalifa Haftar, who heads the Tobruk government and who, while the dialogue process that began after the revolution of 17 February 2011 to build a new system, for better or worse, was continuing, undermined the process with a coup carried out with Egyptian and UAE support and brought the country to the brink of partition.

At present in Libya there are two parliaments and rival administrations in power, one in Tobruk and the other, the General National Congress (MGK), in Tripoli. However, neither government has the means and power to ensure peace, stability and security in the country, because neither of them has sufficient social legitimacy.

In contrast, the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord (UMH), established in accordance with the "Libyan Political Agreement" reached on 17 December 2015 in Skhirat, Morocco, through UN initiatives, was recognized by the UN Security Council as Libya's sole legitimate representative, but because the government lists submitted by the council were not approved by the TM in Tobruk, headed by Haftar, the process stalled. For this reason, since the UMH's approval period has now expired, its authority and effect are weak, and the future is uncertain.

To end this uncertainty, elections must be held as soon as possible, and for elections to be held, no way is visible other than for the parties to establish dialogue with one another at present. Of course, some people are doing whatever they can to prevent this dialogue. However, in the new process that began with Italy's initiatives, the likelihood of this dialogue producing positive results is steadily approaching. The UN Special Representative for Libya, Ghassan Salamé, said that elections could be held in the spring of 2019.

Right in the middle of this process, which will determine the road map of both this election and the dialogues that follow, Hulusi Akar's visit to Libya with his accompanying delegation had a very high symbolic meaning as well as political productivity.

Frankly, the mastery of dialogue and sincerity that Mr. Akar displayed in his contacts also meet with a serious response. We had the opportunity to observe this closely both in the Libya contacts and later in Sudan and Somalia.

Let us take up the others in our next piece, but before finishing with Libya let us note this too: Haftar, who is said to have been getting less support than he hoped for from the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia for some time, paid a visit to Russia, the other door of support, just one day after us, and held a meeting with Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu. Let us see how this traffic of contacts will be reflected in the conference in Italy.