Top Turkish, US officials speak over phone, discuss Libya

ANKARA- Anadolu Agency

Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalın on June 23 held a phone conversation with U.S. National Security Advisor Robert C. O'Brien, according to an official statement.

The two officials discussed various issues including recent developments in Syria and Libya, the fight against terror, the COVID-19 pandemic, and economic relations between the two countries.

It was stated that the necessary conditions for sustainable cease-fire in Libya should be maintained, the security concerns of the U.N.-recognized Libyan government should be addressed, and the negotiation process should be resumed.

It was emphasized that legitimate and reliable actors should be supported in order to promote a political solution under the leadership of the U.N.

The internationally recognized Libyan government has been under attack by Haftar's forces since April 2019, with more than 1,000 killed in the violence.

The government launched Operation Peace Storm in March to counter attacks on the capital and recently regained strategic locations, including Al-Watiya airbase and Tarhuna.

Int'l law will determine future of Libya: VP

Meanwhile, the vice president of Turkey on June 24 underlined that international law would determine Libya's future.

"Putschists should know that it will be on the legitimate basis of international law that will determine the future of peace in Libya," Fuat Oktay said, adding that with Tripoli's "decisive stance" and Turkey's support, all "games and traps have been thwarted."

Oktay said Turkey would back "its Libyan brothers until peace, tranquility and justice are established in the country."

He emphasized that those who until now "could not propose any approach towards resolution" to the conflict between the war-torn country's internationally recognized government and renegade general Khalifa Haftar now "began to sound" as Haftar began to lose territory.