The Turkish Armed Forces is participating in a US-led military exercise in Libya, where Turkey backed the Government of National Accord (GNA) in the west during the civil war.
Since the ceasefire in a bid to help the reunification of the country, Ankara has begun to establish relations with General Khalifa Haftar, who controls the east and whom Turkey once condemned as a coup plotting warlord.
Meanwhile, attention has again focused on the plane crash in which the GNA Chief of Staff Muhammed Ali Ahmed Al Haddad and his delegation died near Ankara on Dec. 23, 2025. CHP MP Deniz Yavuzyılmaz said that Israel might have been involved in the incident, while Transportation Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said that there were no security vulnerabilities at Esenboğa Airport, where the plane took off.
TURKEY JOINS US-LED EXERCISE
Exercise Flintlock 2026 is being conducted between April 13 and May 1, under the supervision of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), with the participation of former foes, western and eastern Libyan forces, and international partners. It takes part near Sirte, in central Libya, and aims to support unification of the military institutions. It is focused on developing counterterrorism operations, raising combat readiness, special operations and enhancing Libya’s international standing.
Flintlock exercises were conducted in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Mauritania in previous years. This year, the exercise is being conducted simultaneously in Libya and Côte d’Ivoire.
While the civil war following the collapse of the Gaddafi regime was ongoing, Turkey signed a maritime jurisdiction agreement with the GNA in 2019, and in early 2020, parliament decided to send troops to Libya. As a result, Ankara clearly took a side in the crisis, and the UAVs sent from Turkey played a game-changing role on the Libyan battlefield.
General Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) had said, “I am calling on all our forces to be ready to fight against Turkish forces in Libya,” but following the ceasefire in 2020, relations between Ankara and Benghazi have begun to improve step by step on the grounds of common commercial interests.
Turkey set forth the goal of a united and unified Libya. In 2025, Saddam Haftar, the son of General Haftar and deputy commander-in-chief of the LNA visited Ankara, followed by three military technical delegations. Later, the head of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) İbrahim Kalın traveled to Benghazi and met with Haftar. During the same period, the Turkish warship TCG Kınalıada visited the Port of Benghazi as a symbol of friendship.
Turkish companies have been establishing an increasing number of investment partnerships in Benghazi in recent years, and Haftar is encouraging the Libyan House of Representatives in Tobruk to ratify the maritime jurisdiction agreement with Turkey. Turkey thus plans to begin seismic surveys and drilling operations, without triggering a crisis within Libya.
SUSPICIONS OF SABOTAGE IN THE PLANE CRASH
The Turkish parliament most recently extended the authorization of the government to deploy troops to Libya for a period of two years, on Dec. 22, 2025, the day before the Libyan commanders’ plane crashed.
The opposition frequently criticizes the government for first severing ties with friendly countries — such as Egypt and Libya – during the Arab Spring and later seeking ways to get things back on track, as well as for keeping trade relations with Israel open behind the scenes.
QUESTIONS ON THE CRASH
An Israeli-registered Cessna Citation VI was permitted to park next to the Maltese-registered Dassault Falcon 50 aircraft — which had brought Libyan commanders to Ankara for an official visit — prior to its return flight to Tripoli, at Esenboğa Airport in Dec. 23, 2025, CHP’s Yavuzyılmaz, basing his statement on data from Flightradar24.
On the same day, leaders of Israel, Greece, and Southern Cyprus were meeting in Jerusalem, and announced that they had decided to deepen their cooperation in the field of security in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Noting that Israel and Libya are considered hostile nations and that international aviation regulations prohibit aircraft belonging to hostile nations from being parked on the same apron, Yavuzyılmaz said on April 10 that “while aircraft carrying high-ranking foreign government officials at Esenboğa are parked on Apron 1 — the main apron and the one closest to the VIP terminal — the Libyan commanders’ aircraft was directed to Apron 5, located in the farthest corner of the airport. The Israeli aircraft with registration number 4X-CNA, which departed from Italy, was also directed to the same apron under the pretext of refueling”.
Yavuzyılmaz added that while the crew of the Libyan plane was at their hotel, the unidentified passengers of the Israeli jet had remained on the apron for 1 hour and 41 minutes, and asked the government: “Why are you keeping this situation hidden from the public?”
The pilot of the Libyan commanders had reported an electrical malfunction 15 minutes after takeoff, and while attempting to return to Esenboğa Airport for an emergency landing, the plane crashed near Haymana.
The aprons were under camera surveillance and the highest level of security measures had been implemented at Esenboğa Airport, Transportation Minister Uraloğlu said, on April 11. Based on the work of the accident investigation team and the prosecutor’s inquiry, there is no indication that the plane crashed due to sabotage, he said.
There was the required distance between the two aircraft, as stipulated by standard aviation procedure, he said, adding that there had been no contact with the Libyan aircraft other than by its own crew and ground service personnel.
“Uraoğlu practically acted as Israel’s advocate in his statement, which was not based on any documents. He didn’t mention an Israeli jet even once, and he didn’t even use the word ‘Israel.’ What is he afraid of?” Yavuzyılmaz said, as a response.
