Erdogan in Algeria: Libya conflict ‘won’t be solved by military means’
6471 Min Read
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Libyan crisis could not be solved by “military means”, after talks Sunday with his Algerian counterpart in Algiers.
Erdogan, accompanied by a high-level business delegation, was greeted at Algiers airport by his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the national news agency APS reported.
Algeria, which shares a 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) border with Libya, is trying to mediate a political settlement to the conflict gripping its neighbour that threatens regional stability.
“We have said from the beginning that the Libyan crisis would not be resolved through military means,” Erdogan told reporters after meeting Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
The visit comes after Erdogan accused Eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar of violating the truce between his troops and forces loyal to the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).
Turkey sent military advisers and trainers to help the GNA fend off Haftar’s assault on Tripoli.
Algiers, for its part, has taken on a role as mediator and last week hosted a meeting of Libya’s neighbours that rejected “any foreign interference” and called for a negotiated settlement.
