Kenan Yilmaz, Turkey’s Ambassador to Tripoli, was received by Libyan Interior Minister Khaled Mazen on June 16. At the meetings, where different sub-headings were discussed, it was announced that issues such as the lifting of Turkish visas for Libyan citizens and the facilitation of entry and exit between the two countries were put on the table.
According to the statement made by the Turkish Embassy in Tripoli, Yilmaz and Mazen discussed the issues raised during the visit of the Turkish delegation headed by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on June 12. It was stated that Ambassador Kenan Yılmaz and Mazen also discussed the possibilities for furthering bilateral cooperation in the field of internal security.
Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU), who visited Turkey to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on April 12, attended the Turkey-Libya round table meeting organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Council (DEIK) on April 13. Prime Minister Dbeibeh announced that he would immediately start the procedures for the lifting of visas between the two countries. During the meetings, Dbeibeh also stated that they want to open an embassy in Ankara and that Turkey is taking action to open a consulate in Benghazi.
Visas between the two countries were mutually lifted in 2009. After the civil war that broke out in 2014, Turkey banned the visa-free entry of Libyan citizens to Turkey in 2015 due to various security measures.
