Khalifa Haftar, whose forces are leading an offensive against Tripoli, announced in a televised speech on Friday mobilization of forces and jihad against what he described as the Turkish occupation of Libya.
He called for renouncing differences among all Libyans and urged them to take up arms - men and women -civilians and military fighters - to defend the land and honor of Libya.
Haftar touched upon some Arab nationalistic slogans and called on Arabs to help his forces to fight Turkey, which he said was trying to revive the Ottoman Empire and saw Libya as an inheritance.
He also called on the Turkish people to revolt against President Erdogan whom he called "adventurer and idiot pushing his army to certain death and trying to spark sedition among Muslims for his own desires".
On last Thursday, the Turkish Parliament approved a motion to deploy troops to Libya as per the military and security MoU signed between Libya and Turkey on November 27, 2019.
