Erdogan and Sarraj reaffirm their alliance on the situation in Libya
The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has renewed his commitment to support Fayez Sarraj, Prime Minister of Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA), in the context of the civil war against the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
According to the Turkish daily Hürriyet, the meeting of Erdogan and Sarraj took place last Sunday at the presidential palace in Ankara, without any statement to the press.
From the meeting it emerged that the Turkish head of state assured the GNA prime minister that the priority of the Eurasian nation is to restore stability to Libya without delay, preserving its political unity and territorial integrity, according to sources consulted by the EFE news agency.
At the end of last year Turkey sealed an agreement with Sarraj's government securing Turkish military support in the war in the North African country and the sharing out of valuable economic areas in the Mediterranean, which were in conflict with the limits of Greece's maritime borders-a situation that provoked international outcry from Greece and the European Union (EU). Ottoman military support includes the presence of paid mercenaries from Syria who, according to various sources, are linked to terrorist groups such as Daesh and al-Qaeda.
Turkey's intervention substantially changed the course of the armed conflict, as the situation was dominated by Haftar's forces following the last offensive launched in April 2019 to besiege Tripoli, the bastion of the GNA. With the support of the country led by Erdogan, the GNA regained ground and important enclaves such as Sorman, Sabratha and Al-Watiya airport. Furthermore, the militias of Sarraj set themselves the objectives of Sirte and Jufra, which were marked as red lines by neighbouring Egypt, which threatened to intervene with its powerful army if these cities were threatened.
The Libyan conflict has become an internationalised struggle involving various foreign powers. Sarraj's GNA receives the aforementioned support from Turkey and that of Qatar and the United Nations (UN), which has recognised it legitimately since 2016. Meanwhile, Haftar's LNA is supported by Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and France. A Haftar that controls the eastern part of the country and is associated with the other government based in Tobruk.
Ankara has not expressed any opinion on the ceasefire announced on August 21 by Sarraj and the Tobruk-based Parliament, which is allied with Haftar, or on the recent turbulence in Tripoli that led to the dismissal of the interior minister, Fathi Bashagha, who was in Ankara that day. However, comments have been made recently on Bashagha's return to office.
During his meeting with Sarraj, Erdogan stressed that cooperation with Tripoli continues to include "the defence of Turkish and Libyan rights in the Mediterranean", referring to the agreement on the distribution of economic areas signed in November.
Turkey claims that this agreement legitimises its offshore hydrocarbon exploration activities in an area that overlaps with the exclusive economic zones declared by Greece, which is supported by the EU.