Turkey rejects Egypt's Libya ceasefire offer on Libya, preferring UN-led truce

Turkey's FM called the so-called Cairo declaration for a ceasefire in Libya 'stillborn', instead calling for a process led by the UN.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab Staff & Agencies

11 June, 2020

Libya televised Cairo agreement Haftar - Getty

Haftar speaks on television during Egypt-led talks for a ceasefire agreement [Getty]

Turkey on Thursday rejected an Egyptian peace initiative in Libya after a series of military victories by forces loyal to Tripoli against strongman Khalifa Haftar and said it favoured a binding ceasefire under UN auspices.

"The call for ceasefire or the joint declaration, to us, is stillborn. It's not realistic, it's not sincere," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the private NTV broadcaster.

Egypt has pressed for a ceasefire in Libya in an initiative also backed by the United Arab Emirates. Both countries support Haftar against the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).

The Turkish-backed GNA based in Tripoli has in recent weeks recaptured all remaining outposts in western Libya from pro-Haftar loyalists, who had sought to seize the capital in a 14-month offensive.

The so-called "Cairo declaration", which comes after GNA's battlefield successes, called for the withdrawal of "foreign mercenaries from all Libyan territory, dismantling militias and handing over their weaponry."

Cavusoglu criticised the countries backing Haftar and said that without their support, the strongman was "zero".

And he said Turkey would support "a binding ceasefire under the auspices of the UN."

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