Ankara Condemns Invitation Of Haftar To Greece - Turkish Foreign Minister

Faizan Hashmi Published January 19, 2020 | 12:50 AM

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2020) Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar's invitation to Greece undermines efforts to settle the longstanding conflict in Libya, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday.

During his Friday talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Haftar called foreign intervention in Libyan domestic affairs, both military and political, counter-productive and condemned Turkey's military cooperation agreement signed with the Libya's UN-recognized Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj.

"Inviting Haftar to Greece and highlighting Greek national agenda sabotage the efforts to bring peace to Libya. We would like to remind our Greek friends that these futile efforts are in vain," Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter.

Back in November, Ankara and the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) signed the deal, triggering a backlash from the opposing east-based Libyan administration, Egypt, Greece, Cyprus and other countries. On January 6, Turkey said that it had sent troops to Libya to help the Tripoli-based government in its fight against the LNA.

Russia and Turkey called on Libya's warring parties to end hostilities and mediated talks between Sarraj and Haftar in Moscow earlier this week. However, the meeting failed to result in an official ceasefire agreement.

The German capital will host a UN-backed conference that aims to finally reach a permanent ceasefire, launch a political process and reinforce the arms embargo on Libya. Officials from Turkey, Russia, the United States, Egypt and the European Union were invited.

Mitsotakis said he would block any Libya solution that the EU endorsed at the Berlin talks unless Turkey's deal with the GNA was scrapped.

Libya is currently in the midst of a civil war between two rival administrations - the GNA, based in Tripoli to the west, and the LNA-supported elected parliament in the east. Over the past several weeks, the situation has escalated amid the LNA's advances on Tripoli.