Turkey opposes foreign intervention in Libya: Envoy
ANKARA – Anadolu Agency
Turkey’s special envoy to Libya said on Feb. 16 that a national consensus government should be established in Libya as soon as possible, without any foreign intervention.
“If the [political] actors inside want a solution, the solution is easy,” envoy Emrullah İşler told state-run Anadolu Agency.
“Actors inside need to completely get out of foreign pressures and guidance of foreign countries and they need to act independently,” he added.
His remarks came on the seventh anniversary of the toppling of the country’s leader Muammar Gaddafi which ended his 42-year rule.
Speaking about his 2014 meeting with Aguila Saleh Issa, president of the Libyan House of Representatives, in Tobruk, İşler said Turkey maintains the same stance, which supports “dialogue” and a “common understanding” between the sides.
“We told them, as Turkey, we are against foreign interventions in Libya and we treat all the sides in Libya equally,” he said.
“We also told them if they like, we could mediate but they rejected the offer.”
He said Egypt and the United Arab Emirates substantially intervened in Libya.
With regards to kidnapped Turkish engineers in the country, he said: “We are exerting efforts to finalize it [the situation] as soon as possible. We were informed that their health conditions are good.”
Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj will pay a visit to Turkey on Feb. 24 to attend a conference on economic relations between the two countries, he added.
