19 June – 25 June: Turkish President confirms military cooperation agreement with Libya

Jun 25, 2019 | International actors

On 20 June, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists, “We have a military cooperation agreement with Libya. We are providing arms to them if they come up with a request, and if they pay for it.” This is the first official confirmation that Turkey is providing the internationally backed Government of National Accord (GNA) aligned forces with military equipment. The Turkish president also added that it was coordinating its security assistance through Turkey’s Defence Minister Hulusi Akar. Erdogan also highlighted that, “Egypt and the UAE’s Mohammed bin Zayed are supporting Haftar’s forces. They were very strong in terms of equipment and drones. Now there is a balance after the latest reprisals. We will update the security agreement we have with Libya.”

On 22 June, UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame made his first visit to Benghazi since the start of the war. Salame met with Haftar as well as tribal and civil society representatives from the city. German ambassador Oliver Owcza also visited Haftar on the same day to discuss steps towards a ceasefire.