Libya calls on Turkey to withdraw troops from Libyan soil
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar (center) visiting Tripoli on December 26, 2020. AP
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After Paris and Cairo, Mohamed el-Menfi, the president of the Libyan presidential council, was visiting Ankara on Friday, March 26.
There he met the Turkish head of state Reçep Tayyip Erdogan.
A "working
meeting
", affirms the Anadolu news agency, to "
discuss the relations rooted in several fields
" between the two countries.
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An official request was made to President Reçep Tayyip Erdogan to withdraw Syrian mercenaries as well as Turkish military experts present in Tripoli by the end of May 2020.
According to a Libyan government source, this request has already been transmitted to Turkish intelligence agents ten days ago in Tripoli.
The Libyans then let it be known that they would no longer pay the salaries of these mercenaries, contrary to the terms of the military agreement signed with the previous government of Fayez al-Sarraj.
Ankara wants to protect its economic interests in Libya
Libya was linked to Ankara by two agreements: military and economic.
Turkey seems ready to revisit the military deal if its economic interests are preserved.
The new Libyan executive wishes to maintain the economic agreement in order to benefit from a large quota of gas.
This agreement gives Turkey the right to extract this gas from the eastern Mediterranean.
The two countries also agreed on the need to increase trade.
Ankara is seeking to increase its investments in Libya and intends to actively participate in reconstruction.
Under international pressure, Turkey has started to withdraw a very limited number of these Syrian mercenaries from Tripoli.
Their number is now estimated at 8,000.
►Also listen: Geopolitics, the debate - Libya: what perspectives?
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Libya
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkey