The Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said that there was a great political and diplomatic movement to resolve the Libyan crisis and to reach an integrated settlement.
In press statements, Aboul Gheit said, “We have always emphasized that a military solution to the crisis was not possible, and that the settlement must be purely Libyan and purely national. It should be according to inclusive foundations that the Libyans themselves agree upon, in a way that preserves the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state, and away from any external interference.”
On the perceived absence of the Arab League in the settlement of the Libyan crisis, Aboul Gheit indicated that the Arab League is involved and is participating in the ongoing efforts. He stated that “there has been an international agreement that the settlement efforts should take place under the auspices of the United Nations, and its Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). It is also the framework that was agreed upon by the participants at the Berlin Conference, including the Arab League and the various countries and regional organisations concerned with the Libyan issue, which also agreed to follow up on the outcomes of the conference.”
Regarding the role of Turkey in the region, Aboul Gheit said, “Turkey has had goals and interests it wants to achieve in the Arab region for the past decade, and we have witnessed a kind of political recklessness. Turkey has shown its opportunism and desire to attack what they imagine to be gains for them, due to the chaos that befell some countries in the region since 2011.”
He explained, “The Turkish interventions have become more and more reckless with time. The Turks are now present in more than one theatre in our region, and they are practicing something like a plan for total hegemony with ideological, military, and economic dimensions.”
Aboul Gheit thought that the new US administration should pay attention to the risks involved in Ankara’s policies, because these policies are based on “nourishing turmoil and instability in the region.”