Turkey Ready To Help Libya Handle War

Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Photo: Twitter @RTErdogan)

JAKARTA - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan expressed his readiness to provide military assistance to Libya. The two of them had entered into a security agreement.

"We will protect the rights of Libya and Turkey in the East Mediterranean," he said on A Haber TV.

"We are more than ready to provide whatever support is needed for Libya," Erdogan continued, Sunday, December 15, quoted by Reuters.

He said Khalifa Haftar, who heads the military forces in eastern Libya, is not a legitimate leader and is a representative of an illegal structure.

Erdogan said this after meeting Libta Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj in Istanbul.

Turkey and Libya's security and military agreements were concluded late last month. They also signed a memorandum on maritime boundaries, which Greece says violates international law. This maritime treaty has been sent to the United Nations for approval.

The possibility that Turkey will send a "quick reaction force" if requested by Libya, will immediately seek approval from the Turkish Parliament. After that, the troops will be sent to Libya.

Meanwhile in Libya, a few days after Haftar, who is the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), declared war, 24-hour fighting broke out between his troops and militias allied with the internationally recognized government.

The fighting came after Haftar said zero hours of fighting for Tripoli had begun, nearly eight months after he began the offensive to take the capital from the UN-backed GNA.