Turkey reiterates its continued support to Libyan Government

ANKARA

Turkey’s deputy foreign minister reiterated Ankara's continued support on Friday for the Libyan Government National Unity and the political process.

Sedat Onal spoke at an International Conference on Libya in Paris that was co-chaired by France, Germany and Italy. He said it was very important that Libyans joined the group.

"We, as Turkey, are determined to support Libya in the future as well," he said, noting the common history and belief between Turkey and Libya.

He also said to ensure sustainable peace and stability in the region, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)'s inherent sovereign rights need to be recognized.

Three priority areas in Libya are ensuring national unity and internal reconciliation supporting the National Unity Government and the issue of the elections, Onal added.

Turkey's opinion taken into consideration

According to information from diplomatic sources, in the declaration published at the end of the conference, some improvements were made by taking into account the opinions and suggestions of Turkey.

It was added to the final declaration that the withdrawal of foreign fighters, mercenaries and foreign forces in Libya would be carried out gradually.

But because some elements that Ankara wanted to see were not clearly included in the text on the status of foreign powers, Turkey made reservations.

While Turkey has only discussed the issues regarding the military consultancy and training support it provided in line with Libya's demand and needs on the basis of a bilateral agreement, it maintained it will deal with the issue, which directly concerns the stability of Libya -- not third parties -- but with the new government to be formed after the elections.

Despite Turkey's objections, in the light of the participation of countries at the conference such as the Greek Cypriot Administration and Greece, Turkey attended with a delegation headed by Onal.

On the occasion of his Paris visit, the Turkish deputy minister met with Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, Libya’s interim premier, Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN's top official for political and peacebuilding affairs, UN Special Envoy on Libya Jan Kubis and the French President's National Security Advisor Emmanuel Bonne.