Turkey has rejected the Egyptian initiative proposed to establish a ceasefire in Libya, saying through its Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu that the initiative aims to rescue Khalifa Haftar, but it is a stillborn initiative.
Speaking to Hürriyet newspaper in Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu doubted the “sincerity” of the Cairo Declaration, citing recently intensified aggression against Libya’s UN-recognized government by putschist Khalifa Haftar, who is supported by Egypt.
Çavuşoğlu questioned the current motives of Haftar, whom he said previously refused all ceasefire efforts but suddenly made a joint statement in favor of a truce with Egypt after recent advances by the government.
He also indicated that amid recent victories of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Egypt and Haftar are calling for a truce as Haftar began to lose on the ground.
“This is neither convincing nor sincere. Cease-fire efforts in Cairo are stillborn,” the Turkish Foreign Minister said, adding that if a consensus is reached on a platform where everyone comes together under the umbrella of the United Nations, that ceasefire will be credible and permanent.
Referring to earlier ceasefire efforts by Turkey and Russia, he said he spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Monday about Libya, and both countries agreed to hold political consultations on the issue.
He also said that Erdogan and US President Donald Trump tasked both countries' defense and intelligence officials to review steps to tackle the issues in Libya.
On Monday, Erdogan said he had agreed with Trump on "some issues" about Libya and that GNA would continue fighting till it controls Sirte and Jufra airbase.
