Africa

Erdogan Says Did Not Send Troops to Libya Yet, Only Military Advisers

ANKARA (Sputnik) - On 5 January, Erdogan said Turkish troops were gradually departing to Libya to support the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), with which Ankara had signed a security memorandum in December.
Sputnik

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that there were not any Turkish troops in Libya yet, only Turkish military advisers.

"We are not sending troops [to Libya] as of now. We have sent there a team of military advisers and instructors," Erdogan said, as quoted by the Turkish A Haber broadcaster.

This week, Ankara announced that it would deploy troops to support the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli in its fight against its opponents in the country's east, the Libyan National Army (LNA), after ceasefire negotiations between the two in Moscow failed.

Conflict in Libya

Libya has been torn by an internal struggle in the wake of the murder of the country's former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The two key warring groups existing at present are the UN-endorsed GNA under Fayez al-Serraj, which controls the country's west as well as the capital Tripoli, and the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by General Khalifa Haftar, which controls the east. 

The two sides were close to reaching a ceasefire agreement in Moscow on 13 January, but Haftar refused to sign it in the end and the LNA announced the renewal of hostilities. 

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