Turkey’s Fidan heads to Libya as US-backed unification push gathers pace
The Turkish foreign minister will hold talks in both Tripoli and Benghazi as Ankara seeks to preserve its military, maritime, energy and commercial interests while Washington pushes Libya’s rival camps toward a power-sharing arrangement.
ANKARA — Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will travel to Libya on Tuesday for talks with officials from the country’s rival western and eastern administrations, a Turkish diplomatic source told journalists, as US-led efforts to unify Libya gather pace.
Fidan will hold talks in Tripoli, seat of the internationally recognized government, before traveling to Benghazi, where Libya’s eastern authorities are based, the source said.
Libya remains divided between Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s UN-recognized government in Tripoli and eastern authorities under the de facto control of commander Khalifa Hifter, whose Libyan National Army controls much of the east and south. The two-day visit comes amid renewed security tensions on both sides of the country. On Monday, a drone strike sparked a major fire at the Zawiya refinery west of Tripoli, while a car bomb in Benghazi killed a senior military intelligence officer in Hifter’s forces. No group has claimed responsibility for either attack.
Fidan is expected to exchange views with Libyan officials on recent developments in the country’s political process, the source said, referring to US-led efforts to unify Libya’s rival authorities under one government structure.
