Türkiye, Egypt pledge to work closely in Libya

ANKARA

Türkiye and Egypt have agreed to work more closely to resolve the ongoing conflict in Libya by helping the two rival Libyan groups to set up a joint military unit as part of the unification efforts in the North African country.

“We are talking about establishing a military battalion in Libya. This will be an important move in terms of the unification of the country. Of course, holding elections will be much more essential for unifying Libya,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in a televised interview late on April 13.

His remarks followed his meeting with Egypt Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who was in Ankara for an official visit. It was the third face-to-face meeting by the two ministers since late February.

Although the main objective of the Ankara talks was the steps needed for the full normalization of ties between the two countries, Çavuşoğlu said they also discussed regional developments in Libya and Syria.

“In Libya, for me, the two most important actors are Türkiye and Egypt. Of course, Algeria, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are also important. Plus, Russia, although it has less attention nowadays. But cooperation between Türkiye and Egypt will be in the interest of Libya,” Çavuşoğlu stated.

Türkiye and Egypt have long been supporting the rival camps in Libya. Türkiye sided with the U.N.-recognized government in Tripoli, while Egypt endorsed the eastern administration in Benghazi and its military head, General Khalifa Haftar. Egypt, many times, has called for the termination of foreign intervention and the withdrawal of foreign troops. Türkiye says its troops in Libya cannot be considered foreign troops and are there in line with a bilateral agreement with the Tripoli government.

At a press conference with Shoukry, Çavuşoğlu said, “Afterward, we will work in closer cooperation on Libya. Today’s talks have shown that our views are not very different. There are some divergences when it comes to the methods. But we believe we should be in closer cooperation by working on a road map.”

Shoukry, for his part, confirmed that they discussed Libya, stressing, “We are in agreement on the creation of a government in Libya that would reflect the will of the people and protect its territorial integrity.”

HH Exchange of ambassadors soon

Both ministers underlined that the normalization process is running in a positive way through intensified dialogue, as Çavuşoğlu stressed that a joint statement will be issued in the coming days by Ankara and Cairo for increasing the level of diplomatic representation to the level of ambassadors.

“We will continue to take some steps until that day. I should underline that there is no problem to this end. Thus, while increasing our level of diplomatic ties, we will take more concrete steps to improve our relations in every field,” Çavuşoğlu stressed.

Türkiye and Egypt lowered their ties to the level of chargé d’affaires following the coup in the latter in 2013 cooled off the Ankara-Cairo relationships.

“We have agreed on a specific timeline that is being finalized regarding raising the level of diplomatic representation. This will be announced at the appropriate time,” Shoukry said for his part.

“The announcement will be in the framework of preparations for a summit between the two countries’ presidents that will crown the process we started years ago,” the minister added.