By RFIPosted on 04-01-2020Modified on 04-01-2020 at 18:43

The Libyan Parliament, installed in Benghazi, severed its relations with Turkey, during a session convened in urgency Saturday January 4 in Benghazi.

International organizations are concerned about the situation in Libya, where Turkey wants to send troops, in support of the Government of national unity. The GNA is confronted, since April, with an offensive of the troops of the marshal Khalifa Haftar, the strong man of the Libyan East, in direction of the capital, Tripoli. While Turkish deputies validated a motion Thursday to allow the deployment of soldiers on Libyan soil, the African Union and the United Nations warn of the consequences of such an operation. At the same time, in Libya, the Haftar camp is also reacting.

The Libyan parliament, which does not recognize the legitimacy of the government of national unity (GNA) established in Tripoli, voted on Saturday January 4 to sever relations with Turkey. During an " urgent " session in Benghazi (east), the Parliament " voted unanimously to sever relations with Turkey, " said his spokesman, Abdallah Bleheq. He also approved " the cancellation of the memorandums of security and military cooperation (...) between the government " of Fayez al-Sarraj and Ankara, he added. Difficult, however, to know how many deputies were present, and if the quorum is reached.

Elected in 2014, the Parliament is an ally of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a strong man from eastern Libya who launched an offensive against the GNA in April.

Already Friday evening, Khalifa Haftar spoke, on a television channel close to his camp. The strongman of eastern Libya called for general mobilization against this military intervention, in which he saw an attempt to recolonize Libya, the former province of the Ottoman Empire.

At the end of November, the Government of national unity of Fayez el-Sarraj had signed two agreements with Turkey . One concerns military cooperation and the assistance that Turkey could bring to the GNA in its fight against the troops of Marshal Haftar. The second allows Turkey to assert rights over large areas in the eastern Mediterranean rich in hydrocarbons, much to the chagrin of Greece, Egypt, Cyprus and Israel.

► Read also: Intervening in Libya, a regional issue for Erdogan

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