Middle East Monitor – Turkey and Libya have struck a number of agreements advancing bilateral relations yesterday, and have reaffirmed the maritime border deal they agreed upon in 2019.
In a joint press conference following a meeting of the Libya-Turkey Strategic Cooperation Council in Ankara yesterday, five Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) were signed by the Turkish government and the Libyan Government of National Unity. They cover education, energy, media, and reconstruction in the North African country.
The deals include the construction of new power plants, a new passenger lounge at Tripoli International Airport, and a shopping centre in the capital itself. Another agreement is for strategic media cooperation between the two countries.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibeh assured Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Turkish firms will have the most prominent role in reconstruction projects throughout Libya.
In April last year, Turkey’s support and military assistance for the internationally-recognised Libyan government in Tripoli helped push back the offensive launched by renegade Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar who held power in the east of the country.
Following the reconciliation of the two rival governments late last year and the swearing-in of Libya’s first unity government in March, the vast majority of state institutions have once again been unified. The official seat of parliament is now the eastern city of Tobruk.
Due to its support for the legitimate government over the past few years and its assistance in the peace process, Turkey is set to play a major role in the country’s redevelopment. This will stand alongside its continued military presence, which will remain in place until the Libyan government no longer needs it.
During Dbeibeh’s visit to the Turkish capital, he and Erdogan also reaffirmed the controversial maritime deal signed in 2019 between Ankara and Tripoli, in which Turkey aimed to reassert its maritime boundaries, angering Greece and Egypt in the process.
