ANKARA
Turkey and Libya will enter into closer energy cooperation and Turkish companies will acquire the place they actually deserve in Libya, Libyan prime minister said on Friday.
During a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said that “Libya may increase the amount of oil it provides to Turkey and Turkish companies may start oil exploration in Libya.”
We desire to have around 20,000 weapons from Turkey within our efforts to strengthen Libyan military, Zeidan also said.
“Libya is in need of helicopters, assault boats and other kinds of mechanisms for coastal security,” the prime minister said.
Emphasizing that Turkey is a very suitable country for the education of Libyan military personnel, Zeidan extended his thanks to Turkey for its continuing support on this issue.
“Islamic world is in a distress due to violence,” said Zeidan, stating that he and Erdogan have also evaluated on the situation of Egypt.
This has been the second visit of Zeidan to Turkey since coming to power in November 2012. Erdogan said that Turkey is also planning to make a return visit to Libya after the Turkish local elections to be held on March 30.
Meanwhile, Erdogan stated that a total of $3.5 billion trade volume between the two countries is far from being satisfactory, given the strong bond between the people of the two countries.
“With a free trade agreement to be made, this amount will speedily rise,” Erdogan also said.
Erdogan, saying that he also exchanged ideas with Zeidan on cultural relations, stated that a Yunus Emre Institute, a Turkish organization with over 30 cultural centers around the world offering cultural and social programs, may be opened in Libya soon.
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