Libya, Turkey discuss security cooperation

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has met with Minister of Defense of the UN-backed Libyan government, Salahaddin Namroush in Libyan capital Tripoli and discussed security cooperation between the two countries.

“We discussed continuation of the signed agreement by intensifying training programs for our forces and developing the military system to international levels,” Namroush told reporters following the meeting.

Namroush also said that he aims to “reorganize the Libyan army and introduce new blood based on the military belief of defending the Libyan people and protecting the civil state.”

Moreover, the Turkish minister met with Fat’hi Bashagha, Minister of Interior of Libya’s UN-backed government, and expressed Turkey’s willingness to provide training for the ministry’s personnel.

“Turkey wishes to establish national unity (in Libya), this cannot be achieved without a national reconciliation that brings all the Libyans together,” Akar said during the meeting with Bashagha.

“We have the will to work with you according to constants that are based on mutual respect and common interest for both friendly countries. We will foil all conspiracies by which many attempt to strike the national fabric and stability in Libya,” Bashagha told Akar.

In 2019, Ankara and Libya’s UN-backed government signed two memorandums of understanding on military cooperation and maritime boundaries in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey extended its troop deployment permission in Libya for another 18 months, according to its official gazette published on Thursday.

Hauwa Mustapha