Turkey on Wednesday said it was still confident the ceasefire in Libya would hold despite strongman Khalifa Haftar’s refusal to sign a permanent truce.
Haftar walked away from talks in Moscow aimed at finalising a ceasefire orchestrated by Russia and Turkey, which came into force Sunday.
“It is still too early to say that the ceasefire has fallen apart,” Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said during a briefing in Ankara.
“The work related to this continues.”
Libyan rivals Sarraj and Haftar leave Moscow without signing ceasefire deal
The commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar and the Government of National Accord (GNA) Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj left Moscow on Tuesday without reaching an agreement on a ceasefire deal proposed by Russia and Turkey.
With an international conference on the Libyan conflict due in Berlin on Sunday, Akar said Turkey supported “a ceasefire, peace, a political solution.”
Germany has invited both sides of the conflict to talks with 11 countries and several international organisations.
Turkey supports the UN-recognised Government of National Accord based in Tripoli, which has been under attack by Haftar’s forces since April.
It has deployed soldiers to Libya but Ankara insists they are providing training and advice, and will not be taking part in active combat.
Akar did not say how many Turkish soldiers were in Libya but said the numbers changed according to Tripoli’s needs.
