Following months of conflict and accusations between the two parties, the relationship between Turkey and the Khalifa Hifter-led Libyan National Army (LNA) has seen a relative thaw.
On Jan. 20, Turkey's Ambassador to Tripoli Kenan Yilmaz visited eastern Libya and met with speaker of the Tobruk-based Libyan parliament Aqila Saleh, who is one of Turkey's most vocal critics.
“Saleh’s meeting with the Turkish ambassador to Libya is a qualitative leap in Turkish-Libyan relations, especially considering that eastern Libya has always been hostile to Turkey because of the latter’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood, its controversial military and security agreements with the former Government of National Accord (GNA), and because it brought thousands of Syrian mercenaries to fight against the LNA in the battle to liberate Tripoli," reported the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper Jan. 20.
Libya's Deputy Prime Minister Hussein al-Qatrani, who represents eastern Libya in the Libyan government, said in Jan. 19 press statements that “Turkey plans to reopen the Turkish consulate in Benghazi" and he “intends to visit Turkey at the end of this month.”
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