ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said Turkish soldiers had begun deploying to Libya after parliament approved such a move last week.
“Our soldiers’ duty there is coordination. They will develop the operation center there. Our soldiers are gradually going right now,” he told CNN Turk broadcaster during an interview.
The Turkish parliament passed a bill allowing the government to send troops to Libya aimed at shoring up the UN-recognized government in Tripoli.
The Tripoli government has come under sustained attack since military strongman general Khalifa Haftar launched his offensive in April.
Haftar is backed by Turkey’s regional rivals, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, while the UN-backed government has the support of Ankara and its ally Qatar.
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Erdogan said Turkey’s objective was “not to fight,” but “to support the legitimate government and avoid a humanitarian tragedy.”
Turkey’s move comes after the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord made a formal request for military support.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Libya on Sunday strongly condemned the military escalation in Tripoli in recent days, which reportedly killed and injured many people.
“This deterioration in security underscores the dangers of toxic foreign interference in Libya, such as the arrival of Syrian fighters supported by Turkey as well as the deployment of Russian mercenaries,” the embassy said in a statement via Twitter.
It all said that all Libyan parties have a “responsibility to end this dangerous involvement of foreign forces, which is contributing to civilian casualties and damaging civilian infrastructure to the detriment of all Libyans.”
The embassy also said it “stands ready to support all Libyan efforts to end the violence, curtail the interference of foreign forces, and reestablish a UN-facilitated political dialogue, which is the only path to lasting peace and prosperity.”
Libya and Turkey signed security and maritime agreements in November last year, angering Mediterranean countries including Greece and Cyprus who also seek to exploit energy resources in the region.
