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Turkey senses advantage in shaping Libya negotiations

Ankara and Moscow might find common ground in Libya by bringing eastern and western forces to the negotiating table, excluding Khalifa Hifter. Such a prospect, however, would require pressuring Hifter’s backers.
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Diplomatic efforts to bring Libya’s warring parties to the negotiating table are gaining momentum as Khalifa Hifter’s Libyan National Army is quickly collapsing around Tripoli in the face of intensified Turkish intervention. 

On June 4, Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, a day after GNA Foreign Minister Mohammed Siala and Vice President of the Presidential Council Ahmed Maiteeq visited Moscow. Hifter and Aguila Saleh, head of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives, meanwhile, were in Cairo June 5-6. While the talks in Ankara sent a message of resolve to “liberate” all of Libya, those in Cairo resulted in a cease-fire appeal that suits Russia’s game plan.

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