ANKARA: Recep Tayyip Erdogan has authorized controversial oil exploration by a survey vessel in the eastern Mediterranean for a further six months, until June next year. The Turkish president has also obtained parliamentary approval for troop deployment in Libya for another 18 months, after his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its allies outvoted the opposition. In Libya, after a pact on military cooperation between Ankara and Tripoli in 2019, Turkey sent its troops thereon a year-long mandate in January. However, a full-scale war would come at a political cost to Erdogan, meaning a military standoff between Greece and Turkey was likely. “Greece will keep on pressuring the EU for an arms embargo and sanctions against Turkey, and not just against Turkish individuals.

Source: Libya Today December 23, 2020 18:33 UTC