Special Political and Decolonization Committee
Libya
The Republic of Turkey
Anika Deshpande
Forest Hills Eastern
Civil war gripped the nation of Libya after Muammar Gaddafi’s death in 2011. This placed the citizens and those passing through the country in danger by factions of the House of Representatives (HoR) and the Government of National Accord (GNA). According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are over 50,500 registered refugees and asylum seekers within the country’s borders. The Libyan civil war garnered the attention of neighboring countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, siding with either of the factions. The Special Political and Decolonization Committee must create a resolution that both handles refugees properly and helps form a single government under which both the Islamists and secularists can coexist.
Turkey has provided military aid in the form of drones and armored vehicles to the GNA. Within Turkey’s borders, Libyan citizens have the ability to conduct any kind of business without harassment. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has set in place military cooperations with Libya, to “disappoint those who want to turn Libya into a new Syria”. While Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, and Jordan have sided with Haftar’s HoR faction, Turkey recognizes itself as a supporter of the anti-HoR campaign to remove Haftar and his former pro-Gaddafi allies from power. The United Nations also supports the GNA, the “rightful government in Tripoli”, as Oytun Organ called it, a member of the Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies. It is clear that the HoR is only a group of terrorist supporters. They are closely aligned with those who supported Muammar Gaddafi’s reign, which was widely known as sympathetic to several terrorist groups.
All nations should agree to accept all Islamist refugees from Libya into the European nations, as Italy has been doing, to reduce casualties as the power is turned over to the licit government. Countries should advocate for the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA), which is backed by the UN. Other countries should also provide arms to the GNA in order to weaken Haftar’s rebellion to the point where the GNA can finally preside over Libya as a formal, unified government. A resolution that advocates the acceptance of Libyan refugees and provides financial and military aid to the GNA will be the best path for the international community to take in order to restore peace in Libya.
- Anika Deshpande
