On Saturday, General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, said that the Libyan people are ready to forcefully confront any colonisation attempts, vowing that his country will never accept the Turkish invasion.
During his visit to the Tariq Bin Ziyad battalion, the LNA commander addressed the nation, saying: “The Turks have stayed in Libya for 300 years, however they left nothing but evil.”
He also stressed that the Libyans will never subject to a new Turkish colonisation, pointing out that the LNA forces will give a fierce lesson to Turkish-backed mercenaries, who falsely think that Libya is up for grabs.
Haftar added that “expelling the Turkish invaders from Libya is our main goal, and stressed: “Those mercenaries, who have been recruited and trained by Turkey in Libya, have no homeland and no family as they are only fighting for money.”
The LNA Commander also greeted the battalion’s officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers for their high morale, their willingness and complete readiness to implement any orders issued to them to liberate the homeland from any invasion attempts.
Notably, the LNA Spokesman, Major General Ahmed al-Mismari, called on all states that are approaching their vessels and aircraft near the territorial waters and airspace of Libya to coordinate with the General Command of the LNA.
In December 2019, Turkey signed with the Government of National Accord, which is an interim non-elected government recognised by the United Nations, two MoUs on defence and gas drilling in the Mediterranean.
The maritime border agreement was rejected by several countries such as Egypt, Greece, Cyprus and the UAE and described as an illegal act that violates the sovereignty of other Mediterranean states.