Erdogan: Ankara not sending troops to Libya, only advisers, trainers

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Ankara has not yet sent troops to war-torn Libya to support its UN-recognized government, stressing that his country has only deployed military advisers and trainers there so far.

“At the moment, we aren’t sending military forces, we are only sending a cadre of trainers and advisers,” the state-run Anadolu news agency quoted the Turkish president as saying on Monday, as he was on his flight back from a multinational peace conference on Libya held in the German capital Berlin a day earlier.

His remarks came four days after he said that Turkey was “sending” its troops “to ensure the survival and stability of the legitimate government in Libya.”

Since 2014, Libya has been divided between two rival camps: the internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, known as the Government of National Accord (GNA), and another group based in the eastern city of Tobruk.

Libya’s renegade General Khalifa Haftar, commander of the east-based army, is the self-proclaimed commander of an array of militia groups, collectively known as the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA), and is apparently supporting the eastern government.

The LNA launched an offensive to capture capital Tripoli, the seat of the GNA, in April last year, interrupting peace negotiations underway at the time. Despite intense and deadly clashes between the two sides, Haftar has so far failed to achieve his objective and his offensive stalled outside the capital.

Turkey reached a military agreement with the GNA recently and upon a request from Sarraj pledged to send troops to the North African country to help his government defend itself against Haftar’s attacks, a move that angered Haftar and prompted him to vow to sink approaching Turkish ships near Libya.

On Sunday, leaders from Turkey, Russia, Egypt, France, Italy, Britain and the United States, as well as Sarraj and Haftar, attended a UN-backed summit in Berlin to help establish a “permanent” ceasefire between the warring sides.

The representatives from the UAE, Algeria, China, the Republic of the Congo, the United Nations, the European Union and the African Union were also present.

MG