Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan denounced Egypt and the United Arab Emirates on Friday for supporting Khalifa Haftar’s militias based in eastern Libya, after Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met Libyan tribesmen who called for Cairo to intervene in Libya.
Tribal elders and dignitaries, loyal to Khalifa Haftar and his militias, met Thursday with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in Cairo in a meeting aimed at staging a military intervention by the Egyptian army in Libya to help raise the stakes of warlord Haftar in the Libyan conflict.
According to pro-Haftar media, over 50 elders and dignitaries enlisted in the meeting, was upon Sisi’s invitation, military intervention by the Egyptian army in Libya.
Asked about the possibility of Egyptian intervention, Erdogan said Turkey would maintain its support for the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).
“Steps taken by Egypt here, especially their siding with the putschist Haftar, show they are in an illegal process,” he said.
The Turkish President also described the approach of the United Arab Emirates in Libya, especially its support for the militias of Haftar against the internationally recognized GNA, as “piratical.”
