“Since there is an invitation [from Libya] right now, we will accept it,” Erdogan told members of his AK Party. “We will present the motion to send troops [to Libya] as soon as Parliament resumes.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey announced in Tunisia on Wednesday that his nation would openly accept an invitation from the Libyan government to intervene against rebels which currently control swaths of land including key Libyan oil facilities.
“Since there is an invitation [from Libya] right now, we will accept it,” Erdogan told members of his AK Party. “We will present the motion to send troops [to Libya] as soon as Parliament resumes.”
“God willing, we will pass it in Parliament on January 8-9 and thus respond to an invitation,” said Erdogan according to Al Jazeera.
The wording used was the firmest yet in regard to the rebels led by renegade general Khalifa Haftar.
Haftar is reportedly backed by 7,000 mercenaries, as well as Russian fighters but is not recognized by the international community.
Since April, he and his mercenaries have fought against Libya’s Government of National Accord(GNA), making rapid gains.
This has angered Turkey and Qatar which support the GNA, while Russia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Egypt and to some degree France continue to support Haftar.
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