Erdogan's mercenaries in hotspot of African terrorism threaten Europe and entire world
Thursday 06/August/2020 - 03:52 PM
Sara Rashad
Despite the many international reports warning of the danger posed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sending mercenaries from Syria to Libya, there is another more dangerous scenario caused by these terrorists, not only for Libya and its neighboring countries or the African Sahel states in general, but extending to threatening the European continent north of the Mediterranean.
The crisis lies in Libya's proximity to the areas of al-Qaeda activity, as the terrorist organization’s presence in the Arab Maghreb and the African Sahel is one of its most active wings outside of Afghanistan. From this geographical fact, the question becomes about the possibility of cooperation between Erdogan's mercenaries and the terrorists in North Africa, especially if this cooperation will affect the map of global terrorism. Also, is al-Qaeda looking to enhance its presence in North Africa by attracting militants transported with Ankara’s knowledge?
These fears have become official, as both Chadian President Idriss Deby and his Nigerian counterpart Mahamadou Issoufou agreed during a radio interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI) on Thursday, April 23 that Libya had become a source of terrorism for West Africa, in.
"Before the explosion in Libya, have you ever heard of an African who blew himself up?" Deby asked, while Issoufou said that foreign interference in Libya has turned the country into a real source of terrorism in the region.
These statements coincided with regional and international warnings of Turkey’s role in Libya following reports of Ankara's involvement in violating the arms embargo on Libya, particularly by providing groups affiliated with the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli with paid Syrian militants.
Complex confrontation
The concerns of these countries, especially the Sahel countries of Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Mali, and Burkina Faso, stem from the reality of the war they have waged in cooperation with France for nearly a decade with no tangible results yet, as combating terrorism in West Africa faces a set of challenges that hinder its resolution or reaching good results.
During a seminar at the Future Center for Advanced Research and Studies in September 2014, Madi Ibrahim Kanti, a professor at the University of Bamako in Mali, explained the difficulty of countering terrorism in the African Sahel, saying that terrorism and crime activities in Africa in general, and the Sahel-Sahara region in particular, are able to grow through the relationships of terrorist groups with Western companies that cooperate with them to facilitate the movement of their businesses.
Kanti added that there is a frightening transfer of large funds from one country to another and from multiple accounts that cannot be easily tracked, noting that this guarantees the provision of resources to finance terrorist groups.
He also reinforced the fragile nature of West African countries, as their governments have almost no control over terrorist groups outside their capitals.
This is the main reason that al-Qaeda chose Africa as the place to restore its lost strength following the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011 and the rise of ISIS as its main competitor in 2014.
As a result, in March 2017, al-Qaeda was able to achieve its first successes since the killing of Bin Laden in 2011, when the terrorist organization was able to merge the four largest terrorist groups in West Africa, namely Al-Mourabitoun, Ansar Dine, the Emirate of Sahara, and the Macina Liberation Front, into Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which is considered one of the most important wings of al-Qaeda outside its stronghold in Afghanistan.
Turkey's role in promoting terrorism
Before Turkey started transferring mercenaries from Syria to Libya, a Mauritanian researcher noted that North Africa and the Sahel region is an attractive place for terrorists who lost in Syria and Iraq, which means that their integration with these African terrorist organizations is very possible after they are transferred with Turkey’s knowledge.
According to the Emirati website Al-Ain, the researcher said that terrorism in North Africa is currently in the process of producing a new generation who will be more able to harm the global system fighting them.
According to reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Turkey has been setting up training camps since the beginning of the year to bring in mercenaries in Syria and train them to before transporting them to Libya to fight alongside the GNA militias.
According to press statements by the head of the Silphium Foundation for Studies and Research in Libya, Gamal Shallouf, Turkey turned Libya into a base for terrorists by continuing to transport mercenaries from Idlib and northern Syria to Tripoli.
Shallouf expected that this behavior would lead to the emergence of major blocs or splits among terrorists that would eventually lead to more extreme and dangerous entities.
He explained that it is customary for terrorist organizations to suffer defections after each defeat, noting that this happened to the terrorists in Syria who left their organizations and changed battlefields.
Erdogan provokes the world
Sameh Ismail, a political science researcher and lecturer, sees Turkey’s policies in Africa as part of a broad scheme to surround the Arab region from the south. Ankara is working against the geopolitics that says the Caucasus or Balkan regions are the natural areas for Turkish expansion, preferring instead to extend south to the African continent to impose a noose around the Arab region.
Ismail cited an example of Turkey’s cultural activities and establishment of a military base in Somalia is due only to the fact that this poor country controls the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which is one of the most important international corridors.
Ankara’s policies have angered many African countries. Eritrea’s president accused Turkey of seeking to control Africa in accordance with the Brotherhood’s agenda and with the support of what he called "forces of global hegemony."
Both Turkey and Qatar have adopted a policy of economic and popular "support and cooperation" in the countries of the African Sahel, at a time when both regimes are behind the transfer of terrorists to these countries’ borders.
Meanwhile, France has accused Ankara of promoting the terrorist scene in Africa, where France has taken the lead in clearing the region of terrorists.
France has more than 5,000 French soldiers in West Africa, and it is continuously trying to persuade European leaders to cooperate in building a European military force to combat terrorism in West Africa, as it poses a direct threat to the European continent.
The Takuba Task Force operating in West Africa since mid-July is the latest outcome of France’s efforts with other European nations. In March, French President Emmanuel Macron organized a virtual meeting that brought together representatives from Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Britain, Mali and Niger in order to reach an agreement to form a European force in cooperation with local Sahel forces from the five affected countries of Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Mauritania to confront terrorism in the Sahel region.
