Panafrican News Agency

'Turkey will not allow Haftar to take control of Libya by force', says Turkish diplomat

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The Turkish ambassador to Tunis, Ali Onaner, has described the Libyan soldier, Khalifa Haftar, as "putschist" and "mercenary on the payroll of certain countries", but assured that Ankara will not allow (Haftar) to take control of Libya by force of arms.

Although he did not name those foreign countries, analysts said the Turkisah diplomat was alluding in particular to the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
  
Speaking on Friday on Mosaic radio, a private Tunisian station, the diplomat said his country supports legitimacy in Libya and is in favor of an intra-Libyan solution.
  
He recalled that since the signing in 2015 of the Skhirat (Morocco) agreement between the Libyan parties under the aegis of the UN, Turkey did not support any party in particular, hoping that Libya would stabilize as is the case for Tunisia.

"The priority is a stable, united Libya whose territorial integrity is preserved so that we can continue on the path of the very good economic relations that we had even in the days of Gaddafi,” he said.
  
He noted that Ankara’s position has changed since April 2019, however, when self-proclaimed Marshal Haftar made a statement rejecting Skhirat’s agreement and proclaiming himself “the only boss in all of Libya”.  

He noted that Turkey intervened to support the legitimate government of Fayez Al Sarraj, recognized by the international community, at the latter's request, to oppose the attempt of Haftar's troops to take control of Tripoli by force.
 
“The legitimate government, which for more than a year has suffered the attacks and the aggression of this putschist, then asked several countries for defensive support to repel the aggression and Turkey said yes," explained the diplomat.
  
“Turkey's sole objective in Libya, which is almost achieved today, is to make the putschist (Khalifa) Haftar and those who have made the mistake of supporting him understand that he doesn’t and will never be able to control all of Libya by military aggression,” insisted Onaner.
  
According to him, "once" those who have supported, encouraged, funded and armed Haftar will understand that there will never be a possibility of controlling the country by force, it will be possible to return to the negotiating table for find a solution that can only be intra-Libyan, because in the end, it is not Turkey, nor the other countries present in Libya that will find the solution that belongs to the Libyans themselves”.

-0- PANA BB/IS/KND/VAO 20June2020