French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday accused his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, of failing “to keep his word” to end meddling in conflict-torn Libya and sending mercenaries to the country, according to AFP.
“We have seen in recent days Turkish ships accompanying Syrian mercenaries arriving in Libya,” Macron said at a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
This deployment is “a clear violation of what President Erdoğan pledged at the Berlin conference” where world leaders vowed to keep out of the Libyan conflict, Macron added.
“It is a failure to keep his word,” the French leader said.
Fighters loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar have been trying to take control of Tripoli from the Government of National Accord (GNA) since April of last year.
Although the weak GNA under Fayez al-Sarraj is recognized by the UN as Libya’s legitimate government, the world body’s member states do not agree when it comes to the oil-rich North African country.
The GNA is backed by Qatar and Turkey, which recently sent troops to shore up al-Sarraj’s embattled government.
Earlier this month in Germany, the presidents of Russia, Turkey, France and Egypt, as well as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and UN chief Antonio Guterres attended a summit at which they agreed to end meddling in Libya and to uphold a weapons embargo as part of a broader plan to end the conflict there.