Top Turkish Ministers Meet UN-Backed Libyan Government
Top Turkish Ministers Meet UN-Backed Libya Government in Tripoli
(Bloomberg) -- Top Turkish cabinet ministers, along with the country’s leading intelligence official, met Wednesday with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, as Turkey tries to reap political and economic dividends from its support for the North African nation’s internationally recognized government.
The talks with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak came after Turkish military and logistical backing for Sarraj gave him the upper hand in a more than yearlong battle with eastern-based military commander Khalifa Haftar.
The discussions focused on the resumption of work by Turkish companies in the country, as well as a maritime and security pact signed between the two governments, the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord said on its Facebook page. Talks also dealt with cooperation in the areas of investment, infrastructure and oil, it said.
That pact, signed last year, outraged Haftar and his Egyptian and United Arab Emirate allies, and was seen in the region as an attempt by Turkey to muscle in on natural-gas riches in the eastern Mediterranean. More broadly, Haftar’s Arab partners have accused Turkey of trying to undercut efforts at brokering a political solution to the Libyan crisis.
Turkish authorities reject the accusations, saying Haftar has repeatedly shown that he has no interest in making peace, citing his rejection of a cease-fire deal brokered with Russia earlier this year.
Following Wednesday’s talks, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said he discussed with members of Sarraj’s government ways to build a lasting peace in Libya and efforts through the United Nations to achieve that objective.
Ankara will also support Sarraj to seek justice at international courts for massacres perpetrated by his rivals during the past few months of fighting, Cavusoglu said.
Speaking to reporters upon return from Libya, Cavusoglu said mass graves were found in Tarhouna, Haftar’s last stronghold in the country’s west before Turkish-backed Libyan forces took control.
“Perpetrators of these inhumane crimes must stand trial,” he said.
Turkey’s intervention aims to salvage billions of dollars of business contracts thrown into limbo by the conflict and secure more leverage in the scramble for oil and gas in the Mediterranean. The country is preparing to issue new exploration licenses over the objections of Greece and the European Union.
After evacuating 25,000 workers during the NATO-backed uprising that ended Moammar al-Qaddafi’s four-decade rule in 2011, Turkey’s construction and energy companies, including Enka and Calik Enerji, are hoping to resume work and finish building power plants once the country is stabilized, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported Tuesday.
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