As Turkey decides to send troops to Libya following the request of the UN-backed government, history reveals it is not the first time Libyans have asked for Turkey's help to fight invading forces
The ties between Turkey and Libya are historically deep and the main thread that connected the two sides during the 1910s, when Tripoli was invaded by Italy, was the Senussi Sufi order.
Turkey has maintained that it will not allow any external force to destabilise Libya's UN-recognised government, which was formed with the aim of building peace in the country. Ankara recently deployed its troops in Tripoli to aid the embattled government against the assault of Haftar's forces. “When Idris Senussi came into power in Libya and appeared as the president of the country, he demanded all qualified staff from Turkey and founded modern Libya with the support of Turkey,” Kavas said.
In 1912, the Senussi order attacked Benghazi, putting up a tough resistance to Italian troops. On the other hand, the forces under Pasha’s command organised a massive attack in Derna. But as the Balkan War broke out on the western flank of the empire, the Senussi resistance faced a major blow, pushing the Ottomans to come to the negotiation table with Italy in September 1912.
Europeans and Christian missionaries avoided travelling through the places that were controlled by the Senussi order. In 1916, a French cavalry officer Charles de Foucauld, who was also a famous priest, was killed by the Senussi forces. Their resistance was so effective during that time that they even regained control of many sultanates, including Agadez, which were occupied by the French forces between 1916 and 1917.
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