The Turkish Foreign Ministry said that France is the main responsible for all the problems that Libya has experienced since the crisis began in 2011, adding that it is no secret that France has provided retired Major General Khalifa Haftar its full support to achieve its ambitions to obtain natural gas resources in Libya.
The Turkish ministry came in response to statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, during which he accused his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of "not respecting his words" regarding ending foreign interference in the Libyan crisis.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Macron tried to create a new agenda with his bare allegations about health towards Turkey, during his press conference Wednesday with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The ministry indicated that Paris's military support for Haftar with the rest of the countries is a threat to Libyan territorial integrity, explaining that if France wishes to contribute to implementing the decisions of the Berlin Conference, it must first stop Haftar's support.
She added that instead of throwing accusations against Turkey, France should play an appropriate role to provide stability in Libya, and pointed out that Macron received at his palace on several occasions what she described as terrorists who threaten Libyan unity.
Erdogan's accusation
The French President said after receiving the Greek Prime Minister, "We have seen in recent days Turkish ships carrying Syrian mercenaries arriving on Libyan territory," saying that "it is inconsistent with what President Erdogan committed to do during the Berlin conference ... It is a lack of respect for his words."
It is noteworthy that at the conclusion of its work on the 19th of this month, the Berlin Conference issued a declaration in which the participants expressed their commitment to the United Nations resolution to ban the export of arms to Libya and to stop providing military support to the parties to the conflict.
The participants also agreed to make international efforts to strengthen the control of the arms embargo, the demobilization and disarmament of militias, and the imposition of sanctions on the party that violates the armistice.
Haftar's forces have staged a deadly attack on Tripoli since April 4, 2019, and under international pressure agreed to a cease-fire on January 12 this initiative of Turkey and Russia, but it violated it several times, and in more than one axis.