The government moves, understandings, and mediations announced during recent days have not succeeded in ending the teachers’ strike in Libya, which has been ongoing since September 13.
The division remained between the education supervisors who announced the resumption of studies, and the unions and local movements that insisted on continuing the strike and sit-in, with the protests moving to field protests in a number of cities and the headquarters of the Ministry of Education in Tripoli.
The Ministry of Finance of the Interim Government of National Unity announced, on Sunday, the transfer of last month’s salaries to the Central Bank of Libya, in addition to the transfer of quota allowance allocations for the current academic year to the Ministry of Education, with a total value of 719 million dinars, to complete the necessary procedures. (The dollar is equal to 6.40 dinars in the official market, and 9.92 dinars in the parallel market.)
In a parallel development, the bank announced the receipt of salary disbursement permissions and the start of completing procedures for transferring them electronically through the “Your Momentary Salary” system. However, on Sunday, several Libyan cities witnessed protest movements by teachers, including Misrata, Tajoura, Riqdalin, and Qasr al-Akhiar, in addition to protests inside the headquarters of the Ministry of Education in Tripoli.
In Tajoura, the local union announced the continuation of the strike and organized a protest, while the “Bani Walid Teachers’ Movement” refused to return to school before the demands were met.
In Misrata, the local union confirmed the continuation of the strike, despite the Education Control Monitor announcing the resumption of studies. Unions in Souq al-Jumaa, Sabratha, and other areas insisted on continuing the sit-in, usually because the decision to end it rests with teachers and their unions, and not with administrative authorities.
On Saturday evening, the General Teachers Union announced the results of its meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Al-Salihin Abdel Nabi, in the presence of the Director General of the Libya Development and Reconstruction Fund, Al-Qasim Haftar, and a number of education observers in the eastern region, noting that the meeting ended with an agreement to monetize 719 million dinars allocated for the “quota allowance,” along with the salaries of last October, and another meeting was held to complete the discussion of the rest of the demands. But she confirmed that the sit-in will continue until it is implemented.
In a development that contributed to the complexity of the crisis, the head of the teachers’ movement, Ashraf Al-Hadi, retracted a previous position regarding the resumption of school on Sunday, and announced a return to the option of a general strike, according to local media, considering that the Minister of Finance’s statements regarding the difficulty of settling financial differences revealed the lack of sufficient guarantees to implement previous understandings.
The teachers’ demands go beyond the share allowance to settle the accumulated financial differences under Law No. 4 of 2018, adopt a unified salary schedule, increase wages, provide health insurance, and pay administrators’ dues and bonuses to school principals and their deputies.
The Minister of Finance in the “unity” government, Rashid Abu Ghafa, had indicated that the financial differences due to teachers amounted to about 24 billion dinars, an amount that he said exceeded the financial capabilities currently available, explaining that a draft unified salary schedule had been referred to the House of Representatives to complete legislative procedures.
The teachers' protests began with the start of the school year on September 13, before developing into a widespread strike at the end of the month that led to the closure of large numbers of public schools.
On the sixth of last month, the General Union announced the lifting of the sit-in following a meeting with the head of the “National Unity” government, Abdul Hamid Dabaiba, who pledged to take measures regarding the salary scale, quota allowance, school principals’ bonuses, and health insurance. But the decision did not lead to a regular and comprehensive return to school, with unions and local movements refusing to resume work before implementing the demands.
While the government is betting on referring the dues and the draft unified salary scale to the House of Representatives to contain the crisis, recent developments reveal that transferring financial allocations is not enough to end the strike, and that the return of school remains linked to settling the rest of the demands, and overcoming the division between unions, movements, and education supervisors.
Egyptian-Turkish contacts and military maneuvers between the two countries continue, despite maritime disputes against the backdrop of an agreement approved by the Libyan parliament with Ankara regarding the demarcation of maritime borders.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aty received a phone call from his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, on Sunday, “discussing the efforts made to reduce escalation in the region at the current stage that is witnessing escalating regional tension.”
According to a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two ministers stressed “the importance of continuing coordination and joint consultation between Egypt and Turkey, within the framework of the regional Quartet and in cooperation with Qatar, to intensify efforts and move jointly with the American and Iranian sides, in a way that contributes to containing the current tension and preventing the expansion of the scope of the confrontation.”
The phone call came the day after the Egyptian army announced the launch of the joint Egyptian-Turkish training activities “Sea of Friendship” in Egypt, which will last a few days within the Northern Fleet with the participation of elements of the naval forces of the two countries.
A statement by the Egyptian Armed Forces said on Saturday evening that this training came within “the framework of the growth of cooperation relations between the Egyptian and Turkish Armed Forces in various military fields, and the transfer and exchange of expertise between the naval forces of both countries.”
Experts who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat believe that the current regional threats require the major powers in the region, especially Egypt and Turkey, to overcome differences and build broad political and military understandings to protect common interests.
Tripoli, represented by the head of the “Presidential Council” of the former “National Accord” government, Fayez al-Sarraj, had signed an agreement to demarcate maritime borders with Ankara in November 2019, which was rejected by Cairo, Nicosia, and Athens, and after that the European Union opposed it for violating international law regarding the seas and oceans.
Last October, the Libyan Parliament ratified the agreement, amid Egyptian-Greek rejection and continued reservations. Despite this, the path of Egyptian-Turkish understandings to reduce escalation in the region continued.
The Turkish political researcher specializing in political and Middle Eastern affairs, Bostan Jamiloglu, believes that the exceptional circumstances and current regional threats make it necessary for the major powers in the region, especially Egypt and Turkey, to overcome simple differences and build broad political and military understandings to protect common interests and secure energy and supplies across the sea straits.
He added: “The maritime files or developments related to the Libyan issue are considered formal differences and temporary reactions that will not hinder the course of military cooperation between Egypt and Turkey,” stressing that “the escalating Israeli danger and threat in the region constitutes a major motivation for concluding military agreements and high-level security coordination between Cairo and Ankara.”
He continued: “The military maneuvers, exercises, and talks regarding the ongoing quadripartite meetings reflect the actual transition of Egyptian-Turkish relations to the stage of strategic partnership, and the lack of impact of the maritime dispute on the understandings between the two countries.”
Deputy editor-in-chief of “Democracy” magazine at the official Al-Ahram Foundation in Egypt, who specializes in Turkish affairs, Karam Saeed, said that military cooperation between Egypt and Turkey comes within concluded agreements that include joint training and the exchange of experiences, and expresses increased coordination regarding the management of conflicts in the region, after dismantling a wide range of previous controversial issues.
However, he stressed that “the problem of demarcating maritime borders is a sticking point between the two parties,” believing that “this issue may raise tension during the coming period if a solution is not reached, especially since Egypt has red lines in this context.”
At the end of last October, Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Guler announced his country’s readiness to sign an agreement with Egypt regarding the demarcation of maritime borders and jurisdiction areas in the eastern Mediterranean. The Turkish proposal gives Cairo an additional area of about 15,000 square kilometers within its maritime jurisdiction compared to any agreement it might conclude with Greece, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.
Simultaneously, the Turkish Foreign Minister informed his Egyptian counterpart in a meeting in Istanbul on the sidelines of an international meeting “his understanding of the Egyptian concerns regarding developments in the situation in Libya, and the importance of continuing consultation, coordination and joint work to deal with these concerns and support efforts to achieve security and stability in Libya,” according to a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in response to the Egyptian official’s confirmation of “the rejection of the agreement between Ankara and Tripoli.”
Saeed expects that relations will continue to maintain their development in the field of trade and economy, as well as in cooperation with regard to managing the region’s conflicts, but “the issue of the maritime file will remain a sticking point and may cast a shadow on further development regarding Egyptian-Turkish relations.”
While Jamil Oglu believes that “there is communication and existing channels of communication between the two countries at both the declared and undeclared levels to find consensus and reach a solution regarding maritime disputes.”
A two-train collision accident in the Al-Ayat area in Giza Governorate, south of Cairo, on Sunday, brought back painful memories of previous train accidents in that area.
Seven people were killed in the latest accident, while 112 others were injured as a result of the two train cars overturning after they collided. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued directives to “expeditiously investigate the circumstances of the accident, and hold accountable anyone proven to be negligent.”
The Egyptian Railways Authority announced that train No. 134 and its route “Giza-Fayoum” and the rear of train No. “2010” and its route “Cairo-Aswan” collided in the area between Kafr Ammar and Al-Raqqa stations in Al-Ayat, which led to some cars derailing from the railway line.
The Ministry of Health stated that the injured were transferred to several hospitals to receive treatment, and 45 of them were discharged after their condition improved. It added that about 72 ambulances were dispatched to the site of the accident to participate in the transport operations and evacuate the victims. She said, “Preparations have been raised in all health facilities in Giza and Beni Suef governorates to provide all forms of medical and emergency support.”
President Sisi confirmed that he is following with “great interest the repercussions of the train accident,” and said in a post on his official account that he directed “state agencies to provide the necessary medical care, quickly investigate the circumstances of the accident... and hold accountable anyone proven to be negligent.”
The Egyptian Railways Authority formed a committee to inspect the railway line and the exit site to clarify the technical and operational reasons that led to the accident, and to take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of operating traffic.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly followed up with the Minister of Health on the position of ambulance services to transport the injured and provide them with health care. He also followed up with the Minister of Social Solidarity, Maya Morsi, on the intervention of the specialized teams to provide the necessary relief support and interventions, in addition to following up with the Minister of Transport on the repercussions of the accident, and efforts to accelerate the removal of its effects to restore and regular operating activity as quickly as possible.
The Al-Ayat area previously witnessed a tragic accident about 24 years ago when a train fire broke out in 2002, in what was known in the media as the “Upper Train Accident,” which led to the death of about 361 people and the injury of dozens of others, in one of the worst train accidents in Egypt. The incident led to the resignation of the Minister of Transport at the time, Ibrahim Al-Dumairi.
In a parliamentary interaction, Member of Parliament Freddy Al-Bayadi said that he had submitted “a briefing request regarding an explanation of the reasons for the recurrence of train accidents in the Al-Ayat area,” and he added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “This area is afflicted by train accidents, and there must be accountability for government officials regarding the causes of malfunctions and the recurrence of accidents.”
He continued: “Investigations must reveal the real reasons for the recurrence of accidents in this region. Its repetition means that there is an imbalance in the movement of trains there.” He also spoke about “the necessity of holding negligent persons accountable,” and that “the government should give priority to strengthening the safety system on trains.”
Official statistics in Egypt showed a decrease in train accidents. It recorded a decline of 22.7 percent during the year 2025, according to the annual report issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics at the end of last June, which indicated that “the year 2025 recorded 170 accidents compared to 220 accidents in 2024.”
The government report at the time indicated that the Wasta and Central Delta regions recorded the highest number of train accidents last year, with a total of 41 accidents, while the East Delta region had the lowest number, with 16 accidents. It explained that the number of deaths from train accidents last year reached 39 deaths, while the number of injured people reached 139 people.
