The New York Times describes Hifter as a “militia leader,” and reveals the reason for Erdogan’s comments.

The American newspaper “The New York Times”, said on Thursday that the Turkish President Rejep Tayyip Erdogan’s statements regarding sending Turkish troops to Libya after the approval of the Turkish Parliament – come to confront the militia leader, Khalifa Hifter, who is backed by Russia.

The newspaper stressed that the size of the planned deployment of troops in Libya is not clear at this moment, but it indicates that Turkey will play a much larger role in Libya.

The newspaper pointed out that Erdogan is still up to this point confirming that Turkey will only intervene at the request of the government in Tripoli.

The newspaper added, that Hifter, who considers himself a strong ruler supported by the UAE and Egypt and received aid from France, his forces are suffering from major setbacks in southern Tripoli, but they have recently recovered after the arrival of Russian mercenaries who brought concerted artillery support and sniper fire, with the blessing of the Kremlin.

It is worth noting that Turkish President Rejep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on Thursday, that it is possible to send Turkish troops to Libya in early January.