Turkey: The Long View | Episode 3: Ankara's 'other' war
In this episode of Turkey: The Long View, Luke Frostick dives into the conflict in Libya, and the part that Turkey plays in it. European Council of Foreign Relations fellow Tarek Megerisi and Turkish journalist Cengiz Çandar join Frostick in a deep discussion into Turkey's "other war."
Duvar English
In this episode of Turkey: The Long View, Luke Frostick discusses the complex conflict in Libya and the role Turkey is playing there.
European Council of Foreign Relations fellow Tarek Megerisi gives Frostick an overview of the fractions on the ground, the internal dynamic in the country and the Libyan perspective on Turkey's involvement in the country's conflict.
Megerisi notes the importance of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to rally up a coalition for an inclusive peace process in Libya, as the conflict doesn't exist in a vacuum.
Meanwhile, Turkish journalist and Middle East expert Cengiz Çandar analyzes Turkey’s involvement and its intense military investment in the conflict.
Çandar noted that while Turkey used its soft power in the Libyan conflict in the earlier 2000s, but that it's most recently switched to "two-player hard ball" as an international policy.
Çandar said that Turkey's policy of forcing other players' hands and "flexing its military muscles" is a policy beyond the battlefield, and instead a tool to remain in negotiations.