Turkey has not accepted Aguila Saleh, the speaker of the eastern-based Libyan parliament, as an alternative to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), in political negotiations on the Libyan crisis, a high-ranking Turkish official told Sputnik on Thursday
ANTAKYA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th June, 2020) Turkey has not accepted Aguila Saleh, the speaker of the eastern-based Libyan parliament, as an alternative to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), in political negotiations on the Libyan crisis, a high-ranking Turkish official told Sputnik on Thursday.
"Turkey did not agree on [the candidacy] of Aguila Saleh as an alternative to the Libyan National Army's chief, Khalifa Haftar, in political talks on Libya," the official, who refused to disclose their name, said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already stated that he does not consider Haftar as a partner in political dialogue on Libya.
On Wednesday, the western-based Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), which is the eastern-based forces' rival in the conflict, received a high-level delegation from Ankara. During the meeting, the parties discussed the recent developments in the North African country, as well as security and military agreements between Turkey and Libya's western-based authorities. The Turkish delegation included Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Minister of Finance Berat Albayrak and National Intelligence Organization Chief Hakan Fidan.
Turkey has provided extensive military support to the GNA since it requested assistance in late 2019. The sides signed a military cooperation pact that was heavily criticized by the LNA and the eastern-based authorities that it supports.
