Turkey’s Defence Minister, Hulusi Akar, said that the Turkish Armed Forces will continue its activities in Libya, Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.
During an inspection visit with the Turkish army commanders in the state of Kilis bordering Syria, Akar said: “The Turkish army, while carrying out its activities, does not only defend and protect the rights of the Turkish people. but also the rights of the Azerbaijani and Libyan people as well as the persecuted and the victims.”
The Turkish Defence Minister, accompanied by Turkey’s Chief of General Staff Yasar Guler, and other military commanders made a surprise trip to Tripoli last week. This was two days after the Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, urged his fighters to drive out Turkish forces from the oil-rich country.
Akar’s visit to Tripoli also has come after the Turkish parliament’s adoption of a motion to extend the deployment of Turkish-backed forces in Libya by 18 months.
Turkey has backed the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord with military advisers, material, and mercenaries against the offensive on Tripoli launched in 2019 by LNA forces.