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| Turkey sending military to train UN-backed govt’s forces in Libya – Erdogan | Turkey sending military to train UN-backed govt’s forces in Libya – Erdogan |
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| Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he is sending military personnel to Libya to train the forces loyal to the UN-backed Government of National Accord. | |
| Erdogan announced the move on Friday, days after he apparently backed off on an earlier promise to deploy ground troops to the war-torn African country. The Turkish leader told journalists on Monday that a group of military “advisers” had been sent to Libya in the troops’ stead. | |
| The Turkish personnel will train the forces of Fayez al-Sarraj, who heads the Tripoli-based and UN-backed Government of National Accord. The GNA has been engaged in a prolonged conflict with the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army, led by General Khalifa Haftar. | |
| Haftar’s forces are in control of most of Libya, and at one point last year threatened to overrun Tripoli. After peace talks in Berlin last weekend, a fragile ceasefire between Haftar and al-Sarraj remains in place, but no lasting agreement has yet been reached. | |
| Though Erdogan has played a central role in peace talks alongside Russia, both in Berlin and earlier in Moscow, he has openly backed al-Sarraj, and vowed earlier this month to teach the “putschist” Haftar “a lesson,” should the LNA’s offensive on Tripoli continue. | |
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