Turkey’s parliament is to vote on Thursday on whether to send troops to Libya to back the UN-supported government in Tripoli in its fight against forces loyal to a rival administration in eastern Libya seeking to capture the capital.
Lawmakers are expected to approve the motion at the emergency session called for later in the day, and grant a one-year mandate for the deployment, despite concerns that Turkish forces could aggravate Libya’s conflict further and destabilise the region.
The Tripoli-based government of the Libyan prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj, has faced an offensive by the rival, east-based government and commander Gen Khalifa Haftar. The fighting has threatened to plunge Libya into violence rivalling the 2011 conflict that ousted and killed the longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi.