07 July 2020; MEMO: Former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Sunday that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and his French counterpart Emanuel Macron suffer from “strategic blindness”.
In a televised speech posted on Twitter, Davutoglu said that Turkey has the right to help its neighbours, in reference to Libya.
“Coup leader Al-Sisi’s threat to the Libyan administration that he would carry out a military invasion and the threat of Macron that he would involve the NATO and the EU in the confrontation with Turkey are not only regrettable, but bring to light the strategic blindness of these two men,” Davutoglu, the head of the newly formed Future party, said.
He went on to call on the UN, EU, US and other international bodies to “strongly condemn” these threats and issue clear stances regarding them.
“Then,” he said, “Macron has to know that Turkey is one of the main members of NATO.”
Turkish support for Libya is legitimate, he continued, asking France and the EU “to answer this question: is the existence of the NATO member, Turkey, in Libya dangerous for NATO and the EU’s security or is the existence of Russia, the UAE and other countries dangerous?”
Relations between the NATO members have soured over the Libya conflict, with Turkey supporting the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and accusing Paris of backing the eastern-based forces of renegade General Khalifa Haftar who tried to capture Tripoli.
France denies backing Haftar’s offensive on the capital and accuses Turkish warships of aggressive behaviour.
