Turkey’s President and NATO Chief discuss Libya’s ongoing conflict

The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg have discussed on the phone the recent developments in Libya and Syria as the latter reiterated the alliance continued to support to the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), which is under attack by Khalifa Haftar’s terrorist militias.

Stoltenberg reiterated NATO’s readiness to help the war-torn country by building its defense and security capacities.

The Erdoğan-Stoltenberg conversation came on the same day the NATO Chief explicitly lent support to the GNA.

In a written statement after his phone conversation with Erdogan, Stoltenberg suggested that NATO’s position on Libya remains consistent in line with the conclusions of the 2018 Brussels Summit of the alliance.

“NATO is prepared to help Libya in the area of defense and security institution building, in response to the request by the Prime Minister of the Government of National Accord to assist the GNA to strengthen its security institutions,” he said.

Any NATO assistance to Libya would take account of political and security conditions, and would be provided in full complementarity and in close coordination with other international efforts, including those of the UN and the EU.

NATO’s Secretary General also recalled that all parties should respect the UN arms embargo, as reaffirmed at the Berlin International Conference on Libya in January this year, and that NATO fully supports UN efforts to find a political solution.