Any attempt to divide Libya will produce devastating results: Presidential spokesperson

ANKARA

Turkey’s presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın warned against any attempt to divide Libya, saying such a move will bring devastating consequences to the North African country.

“If an approach along the lines of ‘Let’s divide Libya from here, let us take this part, give this part to those’ emerges, this will have devastating consequences in Libya… We hear some speculation about that,” Kalın said in an interview with state-run Anadolu Agency on July 8.

“At the moment, there is a political division there, not a division on the basis of tribes or sect, religion or even geography, and there are certain actors that impose it,” Kalın stated.

Some countries have an approach toward Libya that supports one side in order to deepen this disintegration, he stressed.

Turkey considers this policy “dangerous,” Kalın said, stressing that “it is extremely important to protect Libya’s territorial integrity and political unity.”

In Libya, if the priority is defined as the peace and security of the Libyan people, these issues can be resolved if a political solution is based on Libya’s natural resources, political unity and territorial integrity, the spokesperson said.
The solution in Libya is possible not in military terms, but political, he reiterated.

Advancing the political process within the framework of the principles set by the Berlin Conference, especially under the auspices of the U.N., is Turkey’s primary preference, Kalın said, noting that Ankara would continue to support the Tripoli-based Government National Accord (GNA) led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj in this perspective.

The spokesperson underlined that the GNA has conditions for a ceasefire and that is the withdrawal of General Khalifa Haftar’s forces to the positions of the 2015 Skhirat Agreement. Therefore, Haftar forces should retreat from Sirte and Jufra, he noted.

A recent attack at the Watiya airbase in Libya indicates the “real intentions” of Haftar, who attempted for a ceasefire until a short while ago, Kalın said.

“It is against international law,” he said.