President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday came together with the Libyan, Iraqi Kurdish and Rwandan leaders on the margins of the World Governments Summit in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Erdoğan respectively received the head of the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU), Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Rwandan President Paul Kagame for closed-door talks, according to a statement from the Turkish Presidency.
Türkiye is prepared to support the dialogue in Libya without harming the legitimacy of the GNU, Erdoğan told Dbeibah during their meeting, reiterating that Ankara prioritizes Libya’s unity and integrity, the statement said.
He assured the Libyan leader Türkiye would continue working for a sustainable and lasting solution in Libya, as well as peace in the region.
Libya has been torn by civil war and instability since the ouster of longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The country split into rival factions in 2014 between eastern-based Gen. Khalifa Haftar and his illegitimate forces backed by Egypt, and the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli. Türkiye’s support for the Tripoli government was critical in repelling the Haftar forces’ offensive to capture the capital Tripoli and led to a period of stability resulting in the formation of the unity government.
Erdoğan arrived in the UAE early Tuesday as part of a two-day visit and addressed the summit, which is bringing together state and government officials and representatives of international organizations, the private sector, academia, civil society, think tanks, the media and businesspeople from various countries.
He is scheduled to travel from Dubai to Cairo on Wednesday, his first visit in over 12 years as Türkiye and Egypt work to mend ties.
