On Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said they had agreed with Germany that all foreign forces and mercenaries must leave Libya. “But Ankara has a bilateral agreement with the Libyan government for its troops to be stationed there,” he explained.
“There are many foreign fighters and mercenaries present in Libya. We agree that they need to withdraw,” Cavusoglu said in a joint press conference in Berlin with his German counterpart, Heiko Maas. “But intervention by third parties into bilateral accords covering military training and support would be wrong. I think that foreign mercenaries and legitimate presence there should not be confused,” he claimed.
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the withdrawal of foreign troops from Libya would be an “important signal.”
“Merkel and Erdogan agreed to support the Government of National Unity (GNU) in preparing elections by year-end, a German government spokesman stated.