German newspaper ‘Handelsblatt’ revealed that over the past week the Turkish government has sent 10 military cargo planes loaded with weapons to the Libyan capital, Tripoli, violating the UN arms embargo on Libya.
The newspaper quoted unnamed “high-ranking sources” saying that “the planes were spotted at Istanbul airport before taking off to Tripoli”.
It added that “Ankara continues to violate the UN decision to ban arms exports to Libya and contributes to a significant escalation of conditions in the country”.
The German newspaper “Die Tageszeitung” quoted UN sources that stated, upon reviewing the compliance with the arms embargo decision, the UN team had monitored between January and April 2020 two Turkish warships defying the embargo.
It also revealed the transfer of Turkish air defense missile system and armored vehicles to Tripoli.
Turkey is believed to have delivered dozens of drones and thousands of fighters to Libya. The fighters are primarily from Syria and are led by officers of the Turkish army.