Turkey and US will work together in handling of Libya, says Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu

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Turkish foreign and defense ministries and intelligence will soon work with U.S. counterparts on Libya, Turkey’s top diplomat said on June 18.

Speaking at a webinar with the US-based Turkish American National Steering Committee, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan offered his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to work together in Libya and Trump took it positively.

“Our President has suggested that Turkey work together with the United States. Trump looked at this positively and we have received instructions at our level, i.e. foreign, defense ministers and intelligence, to work together. And now our colleagues are getting in touch at the technical level. That we take a common action here is important for the region's stability and Libya's future,” Çavuşoğlu was quoted as saying by state-run Anadolu Agency.

His remarks came a day after Çavuşoğlu and an accompanying high-level Turkish delegation visited Libya’s internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli.

Last November, Turkey and Libya signed landmark pacts on military cooperation as well as boundaries in the Mediterranean Sea.

Under the deal, Turkey has sent advisors to help the GNA to push back the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Gen. Khalifa Haftar.

On June 8, Erdoğan said he discussed the conflict in Libya with Trump in a phone call and that the two leaders agreed on “some issues” related to developments in the country.

“A new era between Turkey and the US may start after our phone call. We agreed on some issues,” Erdoğan said in an interview with state broadcaster TRT, without offering specifics.

A White House statement later said Trump and Erdoğan discussed the war in the north African country, as well as Syria and the wider eastern Mediterranean region, but gave no details.