A recently leaked document details the transfer of €169 million by the al-Sarraj government to the accounts of the Turkish state owned arms company SSTEK. Turkey’s continued involvement in the Libyan civil war has drawn criticism with some branding it a return to Ottoman imperialism.
The document also shows that the head of the Finance Department at the Ministry of Interior, Colonel Mohamed Farada, addressed the head of banking operations at the Central Bank of Libya, and asked him to complete the transfer of the amount to the SSTEK account.
SSTEK is a state-controlled Turkish arms company. The Turkish Defence Industry Executive Committee chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is called BMC, and holds 55% of the shares of SSTEK.
BMC was established in 1964, has manufactured more than 300,000 vehicles so far, and manufactured multi-purpose “Kirpi” armored vehicles. These vehicles have seen action in several of Turkey’s foreign military operations.