By RFIPosted on 05-01-2020Modified on 05-01-2020 at 22:23

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Sunday evening the start of the deployment of Turkish soldiers in Libya. The Turkish parliament gave the green light on Thursday to send the military to support the Tripoli-based government of national unity.

With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had so far failed to deliver any operational details on his plans to deploy Turkish soldiers to Libya, said the deployment was underway - not to say when it started. The head of state spoke during an interview on CNN Türk.

“ The mission of our soldiers there is coordination. And that's what they're doing right now, in a command center. One of our lieutenant-generals will head this command center ... ”

Asked about the timetable for this deployment of troops, President Truc replied that the soldiers were " being deployed gradually ". " We will also have other teams on site as fighting forces, " he said. But our soldiers will not be part of it . "

Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not say more about the origin of these " fighting forces ". But in recent weeks, there has been increasing information about the presence in Libya of Syrian fighters who have arrived from Turkey to support the Government of national unity. They are Syrian deputies of the Turkish army trained and used by Ankara in the framework of its operations in the north of Syria.

In a statement, the US Embassy in Tripoli denounced the " foreign interference " in Libya, citing by name " the arrival of Syrian fighters supported by Turkey ".

We strongly condemn the military escalation in #Tripoli in recent days, including the Jan. 4 attack by LNA-affiliated forces against the Hadaba military college. This deterioration in security underscores the dangers of toxic foreign interference in #Libya https://t.co/A3IqgKRcuC

US Embassy - Libya (@USAEmbassyLibya) January 5, 2020

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