President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday said Turkey will send troops to Libya now that the north African country has requested it and that a motion to deploy troops will be presented to the Turkish parliament in January, Reuters reported.
Erdoğan visited Tunisia on Wednesday to discuss cooperation for a possible ceasefire in neighboring Libya. In a speech Thursday, he said Turkey and Tunisia agreed to support Libya’s internationally recognized government of Fayez al-Serraj.
Last week, he said Turkey would not stay silent over Russian-backed mercenaries supporting Khalifa Haftar in Libya, as Moscow voiced concerns over a possible Turkish military deployment to Libya in support of Haftar’s enemies.
According to Al Jazeera, Libya’s United Nations-recognized government on Dec. 19 accepted an offer from Turkey for military and logistical support as it seeks to repel an offensive led by forces loyal to Haftar.
Last month, the GNA and Turkey signed a deal on maritime boundaries, angering Greece and Egypt, and another pact on military cooperation.