Spokesperson of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tanju Bilgiç, made statements about the Berlin Conference’s final declaration and Turkey’s position at the press conference.
Emphasizing Turkey’s support for the political and national reconciliation process in Libya, Bilgiç stated that an agreement was reached on many issues at the Second Berlin Conference. Stating that they put annotations on some of the articles of the final declaration with 58 articles, Bilgiç added that “They will not allow the trainers and consultants in Libya to be questioned on regional and international platforms and to be lumped together with illegitimate mercenaries.”
Turkey annotated the 5th article of the final declaration demanding the immediate evacuation of foreign forces from the country. Visiting the Libya Task Group Command on June 12, Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar stated at the press conference he held, at a time when discussions about “foreign power” were taking place, “Turkey will continue to stand by its Libyan brothers. He also stated that Turkey is not a foreign power in Libya.
Turkey’s support began at the request of the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in December 2019, and as a result of the Security Cooperation Agreement it signed with the GNA, it sent soldiers to Libya for consultancy and training purposes. The change in the field in favor of the legitimate GNA and the withdrawal of Khalifa Haftar’s forces are largely associated with Turkey’s involvement.
