Turkey, Libya discuss maritime, cooperation deals

ANKARA

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Libya’s UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) head Fayez al-Sarraj on Saturday discussed the recently inked maritime delimitation and military and security cooperation deals at the 19th Doha Forum held in Qatar.

On Nov. 7, Ankara and Tripoli-based Libyan government reached two separate memorandum of understandings (MoU), one on military cooperation and the other one on maritime boundaries of countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Defense chief Akar said the agreements were based on international laws and both countries only sought to protect their legitimate rights in the area, where tension has increased since the discovery of hydrocarbon reserves worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

Following the military cooperation deal, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently said Ankara might consider sending troops to Libya if the Libyan government made such a demand.

Meanwhile, the Turkish and Qatari commanders inaugurated the Combined Joint Task Forces Headquarters in Qatar's capital Doha.

The ceremony was attended on the Turkish side by Akar and Chief of General Staff Yasar Guler, as well as by Qatari Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammed el-Attiyah and Chief of General Staff Ghanem bin Shaheen Al-Ghanem.

* Writing by Ali Murat Alhas and Erdogan Cagatay Zontur