Turkey Reopens Embassy in Tripoli

Jan 31, 2017 | International actors

On 30 January, Turkey reopened its embassy in Tripoli. It was the second country to do so since 2014 – Italy was the first three weeks ago.  UN Envoy Martin Kobler was one of the first visitors to the reopened Turkish embassy. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the preparations to reopen had been made by Turkey’s ambassador to Libya, Ahmet Aydin Dogan, who was previously based in Tunis. The statement said the embassy would initially operate with reduced staff. It added that the reopening would “allow Turkey to make stronger contributions to efforts to build peace and stability, as well as reconstruction in Libya,” and noted that the Turkish consulate general in Misrata had remained open without interruption. The ministry said it would “support the territorial integrity and national unity of brotherly Libya, as well as steps to be taken on the basis of the Libyan Political Agreement towards peace and reconciliation”.

On 25 January, Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj publically disclosed he is willing to meet with Khalifa Haftar directly. There are rumors that there is a meeting planned between them later this week, brokered by Egypt.  Tunisian, Egyptian and Algerian diplomats are largely facilitating the new round of diplomacy while the role of UN Envoy Martin Kobler appears to be diminishing.