Libya needs air defense support, expertise: Envoy

ANKARA

Libya needs air defense, special training and expertise to help its soldiers on the ground, Libya’s ambassador to Turkey said Thursday on the possible Turkish military support.

“Even if there are ground soldiers, it [Turkey's possible military support] does not mean any harm. It will help of the Libyan people to be in security and stability of the country,” Abdurrazaq Mukhtar Ahmed Abdulgader told Anadolu Agency in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, following a panel on Libya.

The ambassador said Turkey’s possible military support to Libya will be for benefit of the Libyan people.

“Turkey when needed help during the Cyprus issue, Libya was one of the countries that supported it," he said, adding that Turkey also answered Libya when it needed help.

Abdulgader also underlined that Turkey and Libya are not only friendly nations but also brothers.

On Thursday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will lend all manner of support to the Tripoli administration which is fighting eastern Libya-based commander Khalifa Haftar.

On Nov. 27, Ankara and Tripoli’s UN-recognized Government of National Accord signed two separate agreements, one on military cooperation and the other on maritime boundaries of countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Following the military cooperation deal, Erdogan said Ankara might consider sending troops to Libya if the Tripoli government made such a request.

Since the ouster of late leader Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: one in eastern Libya supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and the GNA in the capital Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar