The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom together with chief EU diplomat Policy Josep Borrell have called for an immediate cessation of violence in Libya and for an end to what they called Turkish interference in the North African country
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th January, 2020) The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom together with chief EU diplomat Policy Josep Borrell have called for an immediate cessation of violence in Libya and for an end to what they called Turkish interference in the North African country.
Last week, the Turkish parliament approved President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's initiative to deploy the country's armed forces in Libya following an official request by the GNA which is currently trying to fend off an offensive by the Libyan National Army led by Khalifa Haftar.
"We have agreed on a joint statement ... In that paper we are calling for an immediate stop to any further escalation of violence, and also to the external interference which has been increasing in the last days," Borrell said.
When asked by journalists he elaborated which country's interference he meant.
"I have not said that very explicitly, but it is clear to someone who wants to understand that when I am saying about increasing external interference I am making reference to the interference of Turkey," he said.
After the ouster and assassination of then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country was plunged into a brutal civil war. Today, Libya is divided between two centers of power an elected parliament in the country's east, supported by Haftar's forces and the UN-backed GNA in the west.
On December 12, Haftar announced the beginning of a decisive battle in his campaign to capture Tripoli, which has been underway since last April and has resulted in vicious fighting in the city's outskirts.
