Amid renewed battles, Turkey is committed to supporting the Libyan reconciliation government militarily, and Europe is moving diplomatically

The head of the Turkish Presidency Liaison Office Fakhruddin Alton announced that the Libyan government of reconciliation has asked Ankara for military support, stressing that his country is committed to protecting its common interests with Libya.

For his part, the Commissioner for Foreign Policy of the European Union said that he will visit Tripoli on January 7, accompanied by the foreign ministers of Italy, Germany, Britain and France. This comes as a military source from Al-Wefaq forces announced that it foiled an attempt by a group of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar to infiltrate the airport road south of Tripoli.

The Turkish official added in a series of tweets on Twitter that Ankara supports the internationally recognized legitimate government in Libya, calling on foreign powers to stop supporting illegal groups against the Libyan government.

Alton stressed Turkey's desire not to turn Libya into a war zone, and its commitment to achieving stability and peace in it and in the Mediterranean, as he put it.

This comes the day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a vote in parliament on the 8 or 9 of next month to send soldiers to support the government of national reconciliation, stressing that his country will provide all kinds of support to the government of Tripoli in its struggle against "the revolutionary general Khalifa Hifter, who is supported by European and Arab countries." Different. "

On Saturday, the Turkish parliament ratified an agreement on military and security cooperation signed between Turkey and the Libyan Al-Wefaq government, allowing Ankara to enhance its presence in Libya. This agreement entered into force on Thursday, after being published in the Official Gazette.

Waiting for orders
For its part, military sources in Ankara confirmed that the Turkish armed forces are ready to go to Libya and carry out their tasks as soon as they receive instructions. This came after a press conference of the spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense, Nadida Shabanam Oktob, in which she presented an evaluation of the Ministry's activities during the year 2019.

Regarding heading to Libya, the sources said that the Turkish armed forces are ready to do all kinds of tasks inside and outside Turkey if they receive instructions.

Earlier, the Libyan ambassador to Turkey, Abdul-Razzaq Mukhtar Abdul-Qadir, said that his country needs military support in air defense and special training, in light of reports that the Al-Wefaq government submitted an official request to Ankara for military, land and air support.

For her part, the Italian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs said that there is an urgent need to prevent the interference of external actors in the Libyan crisis, and stressed that the international political track remains the main path to solve the Libyan conflict.

European move
While the Libyan Foreign Ministry announced a forthcoming visit to a high-level European delegation to Tripoli, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell confirmed that he will visit Libya on the seventh of next month to meet the Libyan officials.

Borrell said during a telephone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the National Accord Government, Mohamed Taher Siala, that the foreign ministers of Italy, Germany, Britain and France will accompany him on the visit to discuss with the President of the Presidential Council, Faiz Al-Sarraj.

On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called for more coordination to achieve stability in Libya. The Kremlin said that the two presidents stressed during a phone call the importance of the German and international mediation efforts, to advance the political process with the participation of all Libyan parties.

For his part, the Egyptian presidential spokesman said that Sisi discussed with Putin what he described as combating armed militias and terrorist organizations and putting an end to illegal foreign interference in the Libyan issue, adding that the two presidents agreed during the call on the need to intensify joint efforts to settle the Libyan crisis.

Attack aborted
Since April 4, the Tripoli area has witnessed armed battles between internationally recognized Al-Wefaq government forces and Haftar's forces. The battles were renewed on Friday in the vicinity of Tripoli.

Al-Jazeera correspondent reported the death of a civilian and the injury of six others, after random shells landed in a residential area adjacent to the fighting axes south of the Libyan capital.

A military source from the Al-Wefaq forces said it had destroyed eight military vehicles, including two Emirati armored vehicles. Al-Wefaq forces also said that they managed to thwart an attempt by a group of Haftar forces to infiltrate the airport road south of Tripoli, in the axis of mixers adjacent to the road, while a military source on the island denied that Haftar forces controlled the Al-Harsha area in the city of Zawiya.

A military source from the Al-Wefaq government reported the renewed armed clashes in most fighting hubs south of Tripoli. Al-Wefaq forces recovered sites they had lost earlier, and forced Haftar's forces to withdraw to the back of the Yarmouk camp in the vicinity of Tripoli.

Sources from the Al-Wefaq forces stated that the front-line fighters in the Haftar forces were militants of the Russian "Wagner" company, who were carrying out combat operations against the Al-Wefaq government forces using modern quality weapons.

Media affiliated with Haftar forces confirmed that they had lost a prominent military commander with the rank of colonel named Fathi Muhammad Al-Maslati, after he was killed yesterday, Friday, after a missile strike in the Yarmouk axis south of the capital Tripoli. The gunmen were commanding tanks and armored vehicles in the 106th Brigade of the Haftar Forces.

Meanwhile, thousands of Libyans gathered in the western city of Misrata, in an expression of their support for the government of national reconciliation, and their refusal to attack Haftar's forces on Tripoli.

Hundreds of demonstrators in the martyrs square in the center of the capital and in the city of Misrata in western Libya, welcomed the Turkish-Libyan cooperation aimed at pushing what they described as the aggression of Haftar forces on Tripoli and the rest of the cities of the western region.

The demonstrators chanted slogans condemning the intervention of Egypt and the UAE, and their support for the Haftar aggression, which targeted residential neighborhoods and claimed the lives of civilians, including women and children.