Azerbaijan, Baku, March 28 / Trend A. Tagiyeva /
Turkish-Asian Center for Strategic Studies (TASAM) analyst Hilmi Ozev said given Turkey's ever-widening role in the Middle East, one can say France and Turkey are competing for control over the situation in Libya.
"France does not want to lose its position in Libya, and fears the growing influence of Turkey here," Ozev told Trend over telephone from Istanbul.
On Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey is ready to assume a mediator mission in the conflict between Libya's Muammar Gaddafi regime and the rebels. Erdogan expressed his fear that Libya might turn into a "second Afghanistan or Iraq" and called for a quick end to the violence in the country.
The public has been protesting in Libya since mid-February. They demand the resignation of Gaddafi, who has ruled the country for more than 40 years.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on March 17 calling for the introduction of a no-fly zone over Libya and approving the possibility of foreign military operations. The operations launched on
March 19.
Ozev said current U.S. policy shows that Turkey plays a big role in this issue, as the country that may engage in an open dialogue with the opposition and also with Gaddafi.
"Given the fact that Arab and other countries in the region are occupied by their own problems, the leading role in resolving the Libya conflict belongs to Turkey," he said.