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Casting off the shackles of Libya's Arab-Middle Eastern foreign policy: a unique case of rapprochement with non-Arab Turkey (1970s–2011)

This study offers an analysis of one of the lesser-known chapters in Libya's foreign policy under the Qaddafi regime, and focuses on Libyan–Turkish relations. The study shows that during most of the era of collaboration, spanning the period of mid-1970s–2011, Libya's relations with Turkey constituted an exceptional ‘island’ of pragmatism in Libya's ocean of fanatically and ideologically driven foreign relations. Often plagued by Qaddafi's tumultuous political and ideological whims, as a result of which he often entangled his country in military adventures and conflicts, the study explores the unique nature of Tripoli–Ankara ties, notwithstanding Turkey's Western orientation and amicable links with Israel (at least during the major part of the period reviewed) – both perceived by Qaddafi as pure evil. Tripoli carefully navigated its ties with Ankara, with the exception of the crisis Qaddafi provoked in 1996 when he let his staunchly ideological support of the Kurdish cause eclipse and shake the rational Libyan–Turkish relations. Examining this set of bilateral ties mainly through a Libyan prism, the article also sheds light on the major Turkish crossroads on the bilateral track. Tracing these relations, which flourished mainly within an economic context, the discussion takes into account the two countries' domestic affairs as well as their wider regional and international environs – all of which impacted the convergence or conflict of interests. This article presents original research on these bilateral relations, through a two-pronged academic approach involving political history and political science.