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France media: Turkey playing honest game in Libya

June 25, 2020 at 1:33 pm

President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, Turkey on 16 May 2020 [Mustafa Kamacı/Anadolu Agency]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the only player in Libya acting in an honest way and the Ankara administration is not hiding its regional agenda, French magazine Le Canard enchaine wrote yesterday.

According to the magazine, which included the opinions of former French diplomats, Turkey’s president is the only one who is not hiding his military, geopolitical and energy goals in the Mediterranean, Libya and Cyprus.

Adding that the Libyan government viewed a recent statement by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi – where he argued that direct intervention in Libya was a possibility – as a declaration of war and meddling in the country’s internal affairs.

This comes after the Turkish foreign minister on Wednesday criticised the French president’s comments on Ankara’s support for the internationally recognised Libyan government.

READ: The EU is dogmatic in its opposition to Turkey

In a live radio broadcast, Mevlut Cavusoglu said that France is playing a dangerous game by going beyond the limits in Libya.

France’s foreign minister called on the European Union to hold urgent talks on the bloc’s future relations with Turkey as a result of its role in Libya.

In November, Turkey and Libya signed a number of pacts including agreeing on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean Sea and the deployment of Turkish troops in Libya to support the GNA.

As a result of Turkish support, the GNA last week recaptured the Libyan capital Tripoli from its rival renegade General Khalifa Haftar forcing his forces to retreat.