Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşo أوlu said that some European Union countries support retired Major General Khalifa Haftar, while an EU official stressed the need to support the efforts of the Berlin Conference to settle the Libyan crisis.
Jawishoglu added, at a joint press conference in Ankara with European Union foreign and security policy chief Josep Borrell, that France supports Haftar and provides him with all kinds of support.
Gawishoglu called on France to apologize to the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Turkey for the recent naval frictions with Ankara in the Mediterranean.
The Turkish minister also referred to what he described as the blockage in the eastern Mediterranean, saying that his country is not the reason for that, welcoming at the same time any mediation that the Union can perform, provided that it is sincere mediation, warning that any escalation from the European side towards Ankara It will be matched by a Turkish escalation.
For his part, Borrell called on the countries participating in the Berlin conference to support efforts to end the conflict in Libya, and support a peaceful settlement to end the Libyan crisis, and stressed the importance of cooperation between the European Union and Turkey on common issues.
And manifestations of escalating verbal escalation between France and Turkey, in a crisis that seems to be the Libyan situation at its heart, after Turkey held France responsible for the failure of the arms embargo on Libya, while Paris called the European Union to additional sanctions on Turkey.
Turkey accuses France of responsibility for exacerbating the conflict in Libya by supporting and protecting Hifter, while France announced last week its withdrawal from the NATO team involved in maritime searches in the eastern Mediterranean region, in implementation of the international arms embargo imposed on Libya.
Burden on France
In the same context, the British Financial Times wrote that Hifter had become a burden for France, and that the main reason behind Paris accusing Ankara of trying to cover up its mistake was to rely on it.
"The French have realized that Haftar has no value and has become a burden for France, and I think they feel shy because they made a mistake again," the report said, quoting a high-ranking European diplomat.
The newspaper pointed out that the French President Emmanuel Macron's accusations against Turkey for its role in Libya raised doubts among many European diplomats, stressing that Turkey's intervention prevented a humanitarian catastrophe in Libya.
"To be honest, Turkey prevented the fall of Tripoli, if Turkey had not intervened, a humanitarian catastrophe would have occurred," the diplomat added.
The newspaper stated that the rest of the European countries consider Hifter a major obstacle to a political solution in Libya.