Italian defense minister to visit Ankara for Libya talks

ANKARA

Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini will arrive in Ankara for talks on the ongoing conflict in Libya with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar who paid a snap visit to the war-torn country over the weekend.

Guerini and Akar will discuss the recent developments in Libya and other regional issues as well as bilateral defense and security cooperation, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on July 6.

His visit comes two weeks after Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio’s trip to Ankara, where he had talks with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

Italy and Turkey are in support of the internationally recognized Government of National Accord led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj as the latter provides military training and consulting to Tripoli administration.

Akar and Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler was in Libya over the weekend and held talks with the GNA officials about the course of the armed conflict with the military commander Khalifa Haftar’s forces.