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Why is Erdogan Sending Troops to Libya?  Is This Part of Plan to Recreate the Ottoman Empire? 

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Turkish forces are deploying to the north African nation of Libya. Turkey's parliament authorized the deployment of troops to Libya last week, following a separate deal on sending military experts and weapons signed into law in December.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised interview that Turkish soldiers were "already going gradually" to Libya.

Erdogan says he's sending troops and military advisers to support the United Nations-backed government in Tripoli. 

"Our soldiers' duty there (in Libya) is coordination for sharing technical knowledge and experience in the point of training programs between all our security establishments," he said. "They are right now doing that coordination. There will be a command center and one of our lieutenant generals at this command center. They will run that process there."

The US Embassy in Libya is criticizing Turkey for the move, calling Turkish-backed Syrian fighters part of a "toxic foreign interference" in the country.

The government is fending off attacks by Libyan opposition forces backed by Russia, Egypt, the UAE, and Jordan.

As CBN News has reported, Turkey signed a deal with Libya's internationally recognized government on Nov. 27 over who controls the Mediterranean. 

Turkey's assertion of power over the Mediterranean has a rippling effect on the entire region, starting with Libya, which has been embroiled in a brutal civil war since 2011.

The agreement designates new maritime boundaries between the two nations in the eastern Mediterranean and signals both countries' attempts to stake claims in these highly coveted waters.

Turkey's pro-government news outlet Daily Sabah reports that the country's maritime borders now extend from Turkey's southwestern coast to the Derna-Tobruk coast of Libya – a move that essentially cuts the Mediterranean in half.  

Egypt called the deal "illegal" and Greece said it was "verging on the ridiculous" because Turkey is ignoring the existence of the Greek island of Crete between the coasts of Turkey and Libya. 

Jerusalem Post Middle East analyst and After ISIS author Seth Frantzman argues that the deal is a blatant power grab by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and an attempt to revive the Ottoman Empire. 

"Turkey is trying to assert itself across the swath of Iraq, Syria and now all the way to Libya, with its eyes set on having the power not seen since the Ottoman Empire more than 100 years ago," Frantzman argues.

Some believe Turkey's leaders plan to claim even more territory as their own.

Recently Turkey's defense minister posted a map to his social media that shows portions of Greece, Syria, and Iraq as part of a greater Turkey.

The map reflects the 1920 Ottoman National Pact that includes lands Turkey believes it deserved at the end of World War I. 

Both maps include the Iraqi cities of Erbil, Mosul, and the oil-rich territory of Kirkuk.

"Their open intention is to restore the original caliphate which was disbanded in 1924," said Dalton Thomas of Frontier Alliance International.

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