"The main person responsible for the problems in Libya since the start of the crisis in 2011 is France," said Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy on Wednesday January 29.

"It is no secret that this country continues to offer unconditional support (to Marshal Khalifa Haftar) in exchange for a right to monitor natural resources in Libya," he added.

These accusations follow the words of Emmanuel Macron, who earlier criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for "violating his word".

"We have seen in recent days Turkish ships accompanying Syrian mercenaries arriving on Libyan soil. This is in explicit contravention of what President Erdogan had promised to do at the Berlin conference. security of all Europeans and Sahelians, "said the French president alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whom he received for lunch.

The head of state also reiterated that with his European partners he supported Greece and Cyprus, "by condemning the intrusions and provocations of Turkey".

A France-Greece partnership

Emmanuel Macron announced, moreover, the establishment of a strategic security partnership between France and Greece, which will be clarified in the coming weeks, with an increased naval presence of French forces in order to "fully ensure security of a strategic region for Europe ".

Already on January 19, the head of state had asked at the Libya summit in Berlin that the "stop" the sending to Tripoli of Syrian pro-Turkish fighters.

Ankara is accused of having sent a few hundred Syrian fighters to the scene, in support of Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the government of national unity (GNA), recognized by the UN, and in great difficulty in the face of the his rival, Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who controls three-quarters of Libyan territory.

With AFP

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