Turkey says it will send military experts, advisers to Libya
Turkey will send military experts and technical teams to support Libya’s internationally recognized government, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday, a day after President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish military units were moving to Tripoli.
Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj’s Government of National Accord asked for Turkish support last month as it fends off an offensive by forces led by eastern leader Khalifa Haftar, backed by Russia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkish military units had started moving to Libya to support the GNA. Asked to elaborate on Erdogan’s comments, Cavusoglu said Turkey would send experts, advisers and technical teams under a military cooperation agreement signed with the GNA in November.
A bill passed by Turkey’s parliament last week also allowed for the deployment of troops.
“How and when this will happen is to be decided by the government, under the president’s leadership,” Cavusoglu said.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia condemned the “recent Turkish escalation in Libya” and the parliamentary approval for troop deployment, calling it a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The United Nations has imposed an arms embargo on both sides of Libya’s conflict, which it says several countries have breached.
