On Sunday, the Prime Minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez Al-Sarraj, held a meeting with Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.
During the talks, the two sides stressed that a political solution, in line with the outcomes of the Berlin Conference, was the only way out of the current crisis. The GNA’s media office quoted Al-Sarraj as saying, “As we seek to maintain peace across all of Libya, we will also continue to remain ready to face any possible aggression.”
Al-Sarraj and Erdogan agreed to enhance cooperation between Turkey and Libya, in various economic and development fields in the coming period. They also discussed the return of Turkish companies, to complete stalled projects in Libya, and giving priority to the service and maintenance programs in a number of vital fields, especially the electricity and healthcare sectors.
During the meeting, they emphasized the need to foster greater security and military cooperation. Specifically, this cooperation would focus on building Libya’s defence and security capabilities, through training and rehabilitation programs. The two leaders also tackled some issues related to combating terrorism. This is in accordance with the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries, in November 2019.
The meeting was attended by the GNA’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Siala, Minister of Planning Taher Al-Juhaimi, Minister of the Interior Fathi Bashagha, Minister of Defence Salah Al-Din Al-Namroush, Minister of Finance Faraj Boumtari, and PM Al-Sarraj’s National Security Advisor Tajuddin Al-Razaki.
On Turkey’s side, Minister of Defence Hulusi Akar, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu, Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu, and Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak, attended the meeting.