President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Libya’s Government of National Unity Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah on Friday held a phone call to discuss bilateral cooperation and regional developments.
Erdoğan told Dbeibeh that Ankara is "closely following" developments in Libya and "will continue to do its part to ensure security and stability," according to Türkiye's Directorate of Communications.
Stressing the importance of cooperation between the two countries in various fields, particularly energy, the Turkish president said that the two countries will continue their joint efforts to protect their rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Türkiye is a key actor in the region and seeks to expand its clout in Libya, which has been divided since the NATO-backed uprising in 2011, with the U.N.-recognized government in Tripoli and east-based Khalifa Haftar vying for power.
Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalın recently paid a visit to the country, while Ankara also reached out to east-based Khalifa Haftar for more cooperation, marking a shift in its Libya policy. Türkiye seeks the approval of the Tobruk-based parliament, aligned with Haftar, for a 2019 maritime delimitation deal with the government in Tripoli.
