General who changed the political balance in Libya: Who is Khalifa Haftar?

One is the National Unity Government, whose center is Tripoli, which Turkey also supports, and the other is the Government of National Reconciliation headed by Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

Born in 1943, Haftar served in the Libyan army until the 1990s. However, Haftar, who later went into exile in the USA and spent part of his life there, returned to Benghazi after the fall of Gaddafi in 2011. After 2011, Haftar fought against ISIS units deployed in the south and east of the country. Paris, Moscow, Washington, and Cairo have provided support to Haftar, who has been trying to present himself as the person who can defeat the jihadists and ensure stability in Libya since 2011. On the other hand, Türkiye and Qatar are among the supporters of his opponent.

Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar (born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA). On 2 March 2015, he was appointed commander of the armed forces loyal to the elected legislative body, the Libyan House of Representatives. He also holds US citizenship.

The countries that support Haftar are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Russia, France, the United States, and Russia, respectively. Italy is known to be neutral. However, it is a matter of curiosity how these balances will change in the future in the Middle East geography, where the balances are changing very rapidly.

1969: The closest name to Gaddafi

Born in 1943 in Ecdebiye, Haftar joined the Libyan Armed Forces after receiving military training in the Soviet Union.

Haftar came to the fore as one of Gaddafi's closest comrades in the army in the military coup that overthrew King Idris, known as pro-Western in Libya. At that time, Gaddafi appointed Haftar, the name he most trusted and 'sees like his son', to the Chief of Staff. Later, Haftar served at the command level in the Libyan army in the Yom Kippur (Arab-Israeli War) and his country's war against Chad.

Haftar was taken prisoner in Chad with nearly 700 of his men in 1987.

1990: Alleged collaboration with the CIA against Gaddafi

Haftar, who was brought to Zaire by the USA after being expelled from Chad, did not return to Libya; He joined Gaddafi's opponents abroad.

Heading the armed wing of the opposition abroad, Haftar settled in the Virginia region of the USA, where the headquarters of the CIA is located.

Accused of leading the failed CIA-backed assassination attempt on Gaddafi in 1993, Haftar was sentenced to death in his country.

It is alleged that Haftar prepared plans to overthrow Gaddafi in the 20-year period after he settled in the USA.

2011: Gaddafi is overthrown, exile ends for Haftar

With the overthrow of the Gaddafi administration in 2011, when the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, called the 'Arab Spring', were experienced, the years of exile ended for Haftar and he returned to Libya.

After Hafter returned to his country, he could not take any senior positions in the post-revolutionary administration.

2014: Raised a flag to the Tripoli administration

In 2014, with his military uniform and the accompanying command staff, Haftar announced that the National General Congress, which was elected in Libya, was abolished and a new roadmap was found for the transition period.

The armed struggle for power in Libya by the groups led by Haftar has begun.

Haftar also launched an operation against Benghazi and Sirte, controlled by militia groups close to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). He sought international support for his 'fight against terrorism'.

2015: Haftar's coup gathers supporters

Two parliaments emerged in the country, the House of Representatives in the city of Tobruk, close to the Egyptian border, and the National General Congress in the capital Tripoli.

Having received support from the armed groups fighting in the east of the country during the revolution in 2011, Haftar was promoted to the rank of "general" by the Tobruk-based House of Representatives in February 2015 and was appointed "Commander-in-Chief" at the head of the armed group called "Libya National Army".

Haftar was strongly supported by countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt, which are behind the anti-revolutionary groups in the region.

2016: Attack on oil fields

The Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord (GNA), established in accordance with the "Libya Political Agreement" reached in Skhirat, Morocco in 2016, with the initiatives of the United Nations, has been recognized by the international community as the sole legitimate representative of Libya.

The government lists presented by the GNA Presidency Council could not be approved in the House of Representatives in Tobruk due to the pressures of General Haftar and the process stalled.

Haftar not only made it difficult for the members of the GNA Presidency Council, who was in Tunisia at that time, to enter Libyan territory, but also launched an attack on the Oil Crescent region, which was the lifeblood of the country's economy and under the control of the GNA. Haftar's Oil Crescent attacks also dealt a major blow to Libya's main economic input, oil production.

According to the figures shared by the Libyan Audit Bureau, Libya suffered a financial loss of 106 billion dollars in oil production between 2013 and 2016.

2017: Haftar accepts a compromise

As a result of the pressure, Haftar appeared before the cameras in the summer of 2017 in Paris, the capital of France, with the Chairman of the GNA Presidential Council, Fayez al-Sarraj.

Hafter and Sarraj, who met near Paris at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron, reported that an agreement was reached on declaring a ceasefire and holding elections in 2018.

However, Haftar's side put forward the condition of entering the capital without laying down his arms for the implementation of the agreement.

In August 2018, the armed group called the Libyan National Army, led by Haftar, sought support from Russia, similar to the one in Syria.

In the meantime, although Russia did not directly intervene in Libya, it became the biggest supporter of Haftar indirectly through the Wagner group.

June 2020

The Turkish-backed GNA forces, including Russian Wagner group fighters and African mercenaries, completely repulsed Haftar's militias from the capital Tripoli and its surroundings at the beginning of June.

Haftar first announced that they were withdrawing for tactical purposes, but after the siege of Tripoli was broken, he lost the cities he held from west to east one by one.

GNA forces counterattacked and extended to Sirte, Gaddafi's birthplace.

Sirte is of strategic importance both because it has Cufra Military Air Base in the south and because it is the gateway to the "Oil Crescent" region, which contains the largest hydrocarbon resources in the country.

The Haftar militias were making great efforts not to give up Sirte, as it functions as an "outpost city" against any attack on the oil crescent region, 450 kilometers east of the capital Tripoli, where 60% of Libya's oil exports are made.