Erdoğan meets with Putin ahead of summit

BERLIN

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met on Jan. 19 in Berlin ahead of Germany-led summit for Libya.

Erdoğan and Putin met in Berlin on the sidelines of the summit for Libya. The meeting started at 3 p.m. local time and lasted for about one hour.

Before his meeting with Putin, the Turkish president also met with his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

“In order for Libya to achieve peace and calm, the acceptance of the ceasefire and the return to the political process should be ensured at the Berlin Summit,” Erdoğan said.

The president’s remarks came before his meeting with Putin.

Erdoğan also urged Tobruk-based military commander Khalifa Haftar to “end [his] hostile approach.”

“With our joint efforts, calm has been achieved but our initiative’s real fruit will be yield with the gathering of Berlin summit,” he said.

Ankara and Moscow on Jan. 8 issued a joint call on all parties to stop hostilities as of Jan. 12 after a bilateral meeting between Erdoğan and Putin.

Libya’s warring leaders made some progress at indirect peace talks in Moscow on Jan. 13 but failed to agree on an open-ended ceasefire to end a nine-month war over the capital Tripoli. The U.N.- recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj accepted the ceasefire yet Haftar left Moscow without signing the agreement.

Haftar and Sarraj last met in Abu Dhabi in February 2019 before talks broke down over a power-sharing deal and Haftar moved his troops on Tripoli in April, expanding his control beyond the east and south.

Erdoğan arrived in Berlin on Jan. 19 afternoon and was welcomed by German Chief of Protocol Konrad Arz von Straussenburg, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Turkey's Ambassador to Germany Ali Kemal Aydın, and Turkish Consul General in Berlin Olgun Yücekök at the Tegel Airport.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, Hakan Fidan, the head of the Turkish Intelligence Organization (MİT), and Turkey's special envoy to Libya Emrullah İşler accompanied Erdoğan in his trip to Berlin.

Çavuşoğlu and Pompeo on Jan. 19 also held a meeting before the summit.

For his part, Russia’s Putin said Turkey and Russia has taken “serious steps” regarding developments in Syria, Libya and Iran.

“We are not losing hope if one of the parties do not sign the joint declaration,” Putin said.

“We will continue to solve the issue and will end this conflict,” he added.