Libyan Government Calls UN to Impose Sanctions on Turkey

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Libyan interim government called on the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on Turkey after targeting Libyan civilian sites.

The ministry said, in a statement published on Wednesday that "The Turkish aggression today targeted fuel tanks, commodity stores and medical materials in the cities of Asabe, Tarhouna and Bani Walid."

“This shift in the Turkish aggression and the Government of National Accord, known as the GNA and headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, highlights its ugliness and brutality," the statement added. 

The Libyan government's Foreign Minister Abdulhadi al-Huweij also called on the Security Council to stand firm to stop that aggression, in order to protect the civilian people, especially in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The statement stressed that the Security Council is concerned with the maintenance of international peace and security, and it is concerned with responding to violations committed by the GNA’s and Sarraj forces and its Turkish ally.

It also called on the Security Council to condemn the Turkish aggression besides "Stopping it immediately, issuing strict penalties against Turkey and withdrawing recognition from the unconstitutional and outgoing GNA."

Turkish drones which back Sarraj militia, at dawn on Monday, carried out strikes in the city of Bani Walid in central Libya, which led to civilian casualties, according to eyewitnesses.

The witnesses stated that “The Turkish air force launched about 11 raids on the areas of Tenaiy and Ashmikh south of Bani Walid.”

The city of Bani Walid is one of the strategic locations in Libya, as it is the connecting point between the south and the gate of Al-Sadadah gate that connects it to the city of Misurata, in the west of the country.

Also, last Sunday, a Turkish drone targeted a cargo plane belonging to the Libyan National Army, known as LNA and led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, which was carrying medical aid to hospitals in the western region.

Turkey supports the Sarraj government and its militias, in order to counter the Libyan National Army operation to clear the capital Tripoli of militias and the terrorist group of the Muslim Brotherhood.