'Turkey seeks permanent cease-fire in Libya'

DAVOS / ANKARA

Turkey's aim is to implement a permanent cease-fire in Libya and acceleration of the political process, the country's foreign minister said Tuesday.

Turkey has supported the Berlin peace process since it started, Mevlut Cavusoglu told news channel NTV in Davos where he is attending World Economic Forum.

"Important decisions were made at the meeting toward accelerating the political process as soon as possible [in Libya], and support came from all parties," he said.

Since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: renegade general Khalifa Haftar in eastern Libya, supported mainly by Egypt and the UAE, and the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, which enjoys the UN and international recognition.

Libya’s legitimate government has been under attack by Haftar since last April, claiming the lives of more than 1,000 people.

On Sunday, Haftar accepted in Berlin to designate members to a UN-proposed military commission with five members from each side to monitor implementation of cease-fire.

The top Turkish diplomat went on to say that Haftar is seeking a military solution rather than political one and there was a need to respond to calls of the international community for peace in the region.

Situation in Idlib

Cavusoglu said that continuous attacks on Idlib by the Syrian regime and its allies had displaced 400,000 people.

"If this aggression continues, millions of displaced people will march to the borders. Then neither we, nor the West can handle it," he said, noting Turkey is already hosting more than 4 million Syrian refugees.

Turkey has pushed hard for a cease-fire in Idlib after the region endured months of battering by forces loyal to the Bashar al-Assad regime and its allies, sending about a million civilian refugees flocking toward the Turkish border.

Turkey and Russia agreed in September 2018 to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

Since then, more than 1,300 civilians there have been killed in attacks by the regime and Russian forces as the cease-fire continued to be violated.

Over one million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border due to intense attacks over the last year.

Mentioning the Israel-Greek Cypriot administration-Greece pipeline (also known as the EastMed) project, Cavusoglu stressed that this is a political move which has no chance to come true.