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‘France is complicit in Libya’s mass graves crime,’ says Turkish official

July 4, 2020 at 12:22 pm

Bodies are found in a number of mass graves in Tarhuna after the province liberated from the militia loyal to Khalifa Haftar, in Libya on 11 June 2020 [Hazem Turkia /Anadolu Agency]

Spokesperson for the Turkish Justice and Development Party Omar Glick accused France of participating in the mass graves crimes carried out by the militias of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who is supported by Paris.

Glick pointed out that France is complicit in the mass grave crimes by supporting Haftar and working to cover up these atrocities by pretending to defend human rights and making unfair accusations against Turkey to get out of the impasse.

“France committed a crime in Libya that has been exposed with the discovery of the mass graves there,” according to Glick, noting that “France is now assuming the role of human rights defender to evade this floundering situation, while accusing Turkey to avoid accountability.”

The Turkish official pointed out that in 1994, a million people were killed during 100 days in Rwanda by a government backed by France, and that the results of all investigations and research in the state archives showed that France encouraged the killings of these civilians, in order to maintain Rwanda under its control.

He stressed that France supported General Haftar, despite the presence of a legitimate government in the capital, recognised by the United Nations (UN).

Glick added:

The injustices and crimes committed by Haftar over the past 14 months were uncovered today with the discovery of the mass graves.

Read: Libya says 190 bodies found in mass graves by Haftar

He continued: “Haftar committed crimes against humanity there, and France remained silent throughout this period, and provided support to his militia, while he was bombing the airport and committing the massacres we witnessed after discovering the mass graves.”

Glick conveyed that French President Emmanuel Macron has also been backing Haftar. However, after the latter was defeated and removed from the equation, Macron denied his support for the West Libya forces, and stated that he did not support Haftar, warning Putin not to support him either.

He wondered: “Where was France during the 14 months of Haftar’s attack on Tripoli?”

Glick asserted that France continues to sell arms to the warring parties in Yemen, despite the occurrence of many human rights violations there.

He stated that France’s prolific reports on human right violations in Yemen did not stop its authorities from selling weapons to parties to the conflict there, stressing that Yemen is witnessing a massacre similar to the one that took place in Rwanda.

Glick pointed out that Macron resorted to accusing President Erdogan and Turkey, in order to cover up the mass graves crimes committed by Haftar, who receives Paris’ support, to distract the world from his defeat in local elections.

The Turkish official confirmed that Turkey clearly and explicitly supports the legitimate Libyan government, and follows a policy that respects all Libyan people. Whereas, France stands beside an illegitimate party and plays a dangerous and criminal role in Libya.

As for the allegations made by France about a French vessel being harassed by an Iranian ship in the Mediterranean, and the French authorities’ call on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to open an investigation into the matter, Glick clarified that the report submitted by Paris to NATO is misguided, insisting that these allegations are completely false.

Read: Libya calls on EU to help in probing Haftar’s mass graves

He highlighted that France is trying to mislead NATO on the incident, stating that NATO officials are aware of France’s motives, exaggeration and position.

Glick asserted that France is guilty and cannot cover up the crime of mass graves in Libya by making false allegations against Turkey and President Erdogan.

The Libyan authorities have recovered 219 bodies to date from mass graves south of the capital, Tripoli, and in the city of Tarhuna, following the defeat of Haftar’s militia last month.

The Libyan government accuses France, Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates of supporting Haftar’s aggression against Tripoli with weapons and mercenaries. However, these allegations have been repeatedly denied by the aforementioned countries.