Flights Begin Operating between Cairo, Tripoli Airports

Planes are seen at Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli, Libya, Dec. 12, 2019. (Reuters)
Planes are seen at Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli, Libya, Dec. 12, 2019. (Reuters)
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Flights Begin Operating between Cairo, Tripoli Airports

Planes are seen at Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli, Libya, Dec. 12, 2019. (Reuters)
Planes are seen at Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli, Libya, Dec. 12, 2019. (Reuters)

The foreign ministry in the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) announced on Tuesday that Egyptian authorities have agreed to the resumption of flights from Tripoli’s Mitiga International Airport to Cairo International Airport.

Flights were halted ten years ago.

During that time, flights from Libya to Egypt could only land at Borg El Arab International Airport in Alexandria.

Foreign minister spokesman Mohammed al-Qiblawi hoped that the new flight would encourage Egypt to take permanent measures to open its airspace to Libyan airlines and resume direct flights with Cairo airport.

He said his ministry was keen on continuing the “constructive and positive” cooperation with Egypt to restore normal diplomatic relations.

The Libyan embassy in Cairo said that Foreign Minister Mohamed Taher Siala sponsored on Tuesday the opening of the flight route between the Cairo and Mitiga.

Siala was on board the flight that landed in the Egyptian capital where he will take part in a regular meeting for the Arab League. This will be the only flight for time being until preparations in both countries are complete to resume operations.

The Libyan charge d’affaires in Cairo said that the schedule for weekly flights will be announced as soon as the arrangements are done.



Erdogan: Kurdish Militia in Syria Will Be Buried If They Do Not Lay Down Arms

A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
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Erdogan: Kurdish Militia in Syria Will Be Buried If They Do Not Lay Down Arms

A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Kurdish fighters in Syria will either lay down their weapons or "be buried", amid hostilities between Türkiye-backed Syrian fighters and the militants since the fall of Bashar al-Assad this month.
Following Assad's departure, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the Kurdish YPG group must disband, asserting that the group has no place in Syria's future. The change in Syria's leadership has left the country's main Kurdish factions on the back foot.
"The separatist murderers will either bid farewell to their weapons, or they will be buried in Syrian lands along with their weapons," Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party in parliament.
"We will eradicate the terrorist organization that is trying to weave a wall of blood between us and our Kurdish siblings," he added.
Türkiye views the Kurdish YPG group- the main component of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militia, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union. Ankara has repeatedly called on its NATO ally Washington and others to stop supporting the YPG.
Earlier, Türkiye's defense ministry said the armed forces had killed 21 YPG-PKK militants in northern Syria and Iraq.
In a Reuters interview last week, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped battle ISIS and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Türkiye, a core demand from Ankara.
He denied any organizational ties with the PKK.
Erdogan also said Türkiye would soon open its consulate in Aleppo, and added Ankara expected an increase in traffic at its borders in the summer of next year, as some of the millions of Syrian migrants it hosts begin returning.