Turkey has not been asked to come to the aid of Libya's UN-backed government after the eastern-based rival army began a new assault on Tripoli, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday
DOHA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2019) Turkey has not been asked to come to the aid of Libya's UN-backed government after the eastern-based rival army began a new assault on Tripoli, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday.Turkey and the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) signed a security cooperation pact shortly before Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar announced the "final battle" for the capital on Thursday.
"We have recently signed two memorandums of understanding with the GNA, one of them on security cooperation ... Tripoli has not asked us for military aid yet to deal with Haftar's threats, but if the government makes such a request, Turkey will look into it and help where it can," Cavusoglu said at a forum in Doha.
Running battles have been reported between the rival forces in Tripoli, eight months after Haftar ordered his forces to march on the capital to free it from what he called "terrorists." He is backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, among others.
Russia has repeatedly called for a Libyan-led nationwide peace process to end the fighting, which broke out after the country's longtime ruler, Muammar Gaddafi, was deposed and killed in 2011. Russia denied having a role in the crisis after US media accused it of sending "mercenaries" to the region.
Cavusoglu echoed this claim, saying that Turkey opposed Russia's military presence in the region, but added that Moscow and Ankara could "narrow the gap in our positions" on Libya after their leaders reached an agreement on how to secure the Turkish border with Syria in October.
