The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, stated that Ankara has “proven to everyone that no activity can be carried out in the eastern Mediterranean without Turkey.”
“We are ready to proceed with our relations with the European Union in a more positive environment next year, and we expect the EU to do so,” he said.
The FM pointed out that diplomacy was one of Ankara’s priorities during the year 2020, and “when the channels of dialogue were closed, we were in the field to reopen them.”
On Tuesday, Cavusoglu said no country or person has the right to ask Turkey to leave Libya, stating that Ankara has legitimate reasons to be there.
During a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, Cavusoglu said that they discussed a number of issues of common concern, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the latest developments in Libya, the eastern Mediterranean crisis, as well as the conflict in Syria.
Cavusoglu claimed that Turkey wants to achieve peace in Libya, but the Libyan National Army (LNA) is not open to this option. “Turkey’s support for the Libyan government balanced the situation on the ground and showed the war was a stalemate. The warring sides have now joined an ongoing political process,” he added.