Turkey said it will back any attack carried out by the militias of Libya's Government of National Accord on the city of Sirte and Jufra airbase after the Libyan National Army failed to control the capital Tripoli.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu revealed to Britain’s The Financial Times that the GNA is ready to resume its offensive on the LNA of Khalifa Haftar if he doesn’t withdraw his forces from Sirte and Jufra.
Russia had proposed a ceasefire with different timelines but the GNA insisted on LNA’s withdrawal from Sirte and Jufra first, he said.
He stressed that Haftar’s forces should accept the preconditions to reach a permanent ceasefire.
On July 3, warplanes struck the Watiya airbase that had been recaptured by the GNA with help from Turkey.
Those standing behind the operation will pay the price, Cavusoglu warned in his remarks to The Financial Times.
Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was in Tripoli for meetings with the GNA when the attack took place.
Also Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated that his country thwarted Haftar’s plans to occupy Tripoli.
He told a Turkish magazine that the GNA was able to push back the LNA in a short period of time.
