The Libyan Prime Minister-designate by the House of Representatives, Fathi Bashagha, said that his relationship with Turkey is a “very strong friendship”, despite some attempts to confuse it.
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This came in an interview with the Libyan Al-Wasat channel, which broadcasts from Tunisia, last night’s show.
In his response to the reason why Turkey has not yet recognized his government, even though Ankara has been a major supporter of him throughout his past political stages, Bashagha replied: “My relationship with Turkey is strong and a very strong friendship.”
He continued, “But there are some parties who are trying to distort the person to confuse that relationship, but our relationship with the Turkish state has never been affected and it is still good.”
He continued, “Members of the Libyan parliament from the eastern region and other political elites offered to go to Turkey to clarify matters.
Likewise, the sons of Mr. Khalifa Haftar, Saddam and Al-Siddiq, went to Turkey to clarify matters, and they are now preparing to go to Qatar to clarify matters as well.
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The Libyan Prime Minister-designate by the House of Representatives added that his relationship with Turkey “was built in difficult times and will not change under any circumstances.”
Libya is witnessing a state of political division after the inauguration of the House of Representatives in Tobruk (east) Fathi Bashagha as head of a new government.
This is in place of the national unity government headed by Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, who refuses to hand over power except to a government that comes through a new elected parliament.
Dabaiba is based on his adherence to the continuation of his government on the basis that the Political Dialogue Forum set the term of the transitional executive authority at 18 months, extending until June 24 next.
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Turkey is communicating with various Libyan parties with the aim of helping to find a political solution and get out of the crisis situation in the country.
In his interview, Bashagha touched on the positions of other countries in light of the political division in Libya, saying that:
“Egypt did not interfere in the formation of my government, contrary to what is rumored, and what moves Cairo is its national security, which is part of Libya’s national security.”
He indicated that he had received “very positive official and unofficial signals from Qatar and the UAE regarding his government.”
As for relations with the United States, Bashagha said that they will “be further strengthened in the near future.”
It was not possible to obtain immediate comment from those countries about Bashagha’s statements.
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Regarding the non-Libyan forces present in Tripoli, he said: “The presence of any force that contradicts Libyan sovereignty is rejected.
As for the Turkish forces, they came in accordance with an official agreement between Libya and Turkey, as for the rest of the forces, such as the Russian Wagner, we will look into it.”
Turkey and the former Libyan Government of National Accord signed a military and security agreement on November 28, 2019.
