Turkey's AK Party hits back at French call for Libya withdrawal

ANKARA

A recent call by France’s president for the withdrawal of Turkish and Russian troops from Libya is "scandalous," the spokesman for Turkey's Justice and Development (AK) Party said.

Speaking to reporters while AK Party's Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK) meeting was underway on Monday, Omer Celik said: "Turkey is not there as a paramilitary force. Turkey is there de facto. It doesn't exist as a militant force. It's there for training purposes upon the invitation of the legitimate government recognized by the UN."

Celik was referring to remarks by Emmanuel Macron during the recent International Libya Conference in Paris.

"It is a deliberate mistake to equate the existence of the Republic of Turkey with some paramilitary forces," he said. "Seeing Turkey as a foreign soldier is a deliberate mistake, a policy of lies, deliberate propaganda."

Saying that Macron was making the "mistake of reducing the entire French foreign policy to anti-Turkey relations," Celik added that Turkey and France had deep-rooted ties and that "it's wrong" to support an attitude of rivalry between the two countries.

* Writing by Beyza Binnur Donmez