Turkey, US nearing new era in ties in handling of Libya

By Dilara Hamit and Havva Kara Aydin

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey and the US are approaching a new era in ties over the handling of the situation in Libya, said Turkey’s president on Monday.

A new era can begin in bilateral relations on the transition process in Libya, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told national broadcaster TRT soon after a phone call with his US counterpart Donald Trump.

He also stressed that Turkey stands by Libya's UN-recognized government against the putschist Khalifa Haftar and those who support him.

Touting the strategic gains on the battlefield by Libya’s army, retaking areas from Haftar, he said Haftar will be excluded from any political solution in Libya.

Erdogan also said he would speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Russia's claims that it does not have any soldiers in Libya.

Following the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya's new government was founded in 2015 under a political deal led by the UN.

The government and the Western parts of the country have been under attack by Haftar's forces since April 2019, with over 1,000 killed.

-Handling of coronavirus

On the apparently waning coronavirus pandemic, Erdogan said he was satisfied with the way the country handled the virus, adding that there are around 60,000 orders for Turkey's domestic ventilators.

Turkey was well prepared and learned from the mistakes of other counties and therefore boosted the production of medical equipment, he said.

Erdogan also said that the government made sure there was no price hikes or hoarding of medical equipment.