Rivalry between Turkey and Greece still in play in Libya
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Libyan Prime Minister Abdelhamid Al-Dbaiba affirmed on Monday their commitment to the agreement on the delimitation of maritime borders between his country and Libya.
The Turkish government and the former Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) on 27 November 2019 signed a memorandum of understanding on the delimitation of maritime borders between the two countries in the Mediterranean, an agreement that provoked the anger of their neighbours in the eastern Mediterranean.
France, which strongly condemned the agreement, led a diplomatic campaign across the European Union for its cancellation.
At a joint press conference in Ankara on Monday with the Libyan prime minister, President Erdoğan said they reiterated their willingness to abide by the agreement, the Libyan newspaper "al-Wassat" reported on its website.
Mr. Al-Dbaiba is currently visiting Turkey, during which he has signed a series of agreements that aim to strengthen cooperation, especially in economic affairs, between the two countries.
The Turkish President took called on the international community to give "sincere support" to Libya so that it can organise elections next December.
"Our support to Libya prevented the fall of Tripoli and further massacres and ensured the respect of the ceasefire," President Erdoğan said.
"Those who supported the coup and its perpetrators are involved in the killings," he said, referring to countries like the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, France, Russia that supported Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA).
He said that Turkey will continue to support the new Libyan government as it did with the previous one.
"Our priority now is to ensure that Libya's sovereignty is ensured throughout the country," he added.
President Erdoğan also announced that Turkey will provide Libya with 150,000 doses of the anti-Covid19 vaccine from Tuesday.
For his part, Mr. Al-Dbaiba said that Turkish companies will have the biggest role in the reconstruction of Libya thanks to their expertise in this field.
"We aspire to host the next meeting of the Libyan-Turkish Strategic Council in Tripoli," the Libyan Prime Minister said.
He expressed satisfaction with Turkey's support for Libya, especially with regard to the ceasefire and the holding of elections.
At a time when the Libyan Prime Minister is visiting Turkey, Greek Foreign Minister Kikos Denidas, who is visiting the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, on Monday called for foreign forces to leave Libya "as soon as possible".
He arrived in Benghazi on Monday for an official visit during which he met with the Deputy Prime Minister, Husseil Kateri, who welcomed Greece's position in supporting the political solution in the country.
The Greek Foreign Minister referred to the agreements signed between the two countries and affirmed his country's readiness to reactivate them while signing others.
"In 2010 we were very close to an agreement with Libya on the delimitation of maritime borders and there is only a little left to conclude the agreement," he said.
He also reiterated his country's rejection of what he called "the illegal agreements signed by the former GNA with Turkey".
The visit of the Greek Foreign Minister comes a week after the Greek Prime Minister's visit to Tripoli to announce the reopening of the Greek embassy in Libya.
-0- PANA AD/IN/JSG/BBA/MA 13April2021
