On Thursday, three Turkish military cargo aircraft were reported to be heading to western Libya, according to Al-Arabiya sources. One of the three aircraft has already landed at Al-Watiya Air Base, in the west of the country.
The sources added that the Turkish Airbus A400M cargo aircraft are transporting tonnes of weapons from Antalya to Tripoli and Al-Watiya. This comes days after Turkey had prevented German forces from inspecting a cargo ship suspected of carrying weapons to Libya.
On Sunday evening, the German frigate ‘Hamburg’ stopped the Turkish-flagged cargo ship ‘Roseline A’ as part of the European Union’s Operation IRINI, which is tasked with enforcing the arms embargo on Libya.
Turkey has consistently supplied arms, ammunitions, and mercenaries to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) in contravention of international resolutions prohibiting the flow of arms into the country.
Turkey is seeking to achieve its strategic interests in Libya by backing its allies on the ground and gaining a footing on the Mediterranean’s southern coast to strengthen its position in the gas reserves dispute.