On Thursday, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu said France had no right to comment on Turkey’s military presence in Libya. In a press conference, he claimed that French President, Emmanuel Macron’s call for all Turkish, and Turkish-backed forces to withdraw from Libya is “disrespectful to the sovereignty of Turkey and Libya.” President Macron pointed out that the presence of mercenaries threatens stability and security of the country, and the entire region.
Cavusoglu explained that Turkey’s military presence in Libya was at the invitation of the former Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj.
Libya is set to hold its Presidential elections on 24 December, and Parliamentary elections a month later. The international community has reiterated its support for the expected vote, and stressed the need to expel all foreign forces from the country as soon as possible.
Notably, Turkish Presidential Spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin recently described Ankara’s military presence in Libya as, “a force of stability.”
This is a clear challenge to the outcomes of the Paris International Conference on Libya, which called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries, according to the 5 + 5 Joint Military Commission (JMC). Kalin also questioned the presence of “Russian mercenaries” in Libya saying, “I don’t know what our friends and allies in Europe are doing about it.”
The General Command of the Libyan National Army (LNA), through its representatives in the JMC has announced the withdrawal of 300 foreign mercenaries from its areas of control.