Libya

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) chair Hakan Fidan visited Libya on June 17 for official meetings.

The delegation met with the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on June 17 met with the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) at the presidential palace.

Erdoğan was expected to inform the MHP leader about the recent military operations into northern Iraq, Operation Claw-Tiger and Operation Claw-Eagle, along with recent developments in Libya.

Ankara, Moscow and Tehran agreed to hold a videoconference and then a face-to-face meeting on the Syrian settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on June 16. 

Turkey angrily accused France on Tuesday of exacerbating the crisis in Libya and violating UN and NATO decisions by supporting the forces of Khalifa Haftar against the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).

German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the conflict in Libya and the situation in the eastern Mediterranean in a video call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Merkel's spokesman said in a statement on June 16.

EU foreign policy head Josep Borrell on Tuesday called for the strengthening of Operation Irini, the bloc's naval mission in the Mediterranean Sea aimed at enforcing the UN arms embargo on Libya.
"Operation Irini has hailed ships, since it was launched, on more than 130 occasions," Borrell said after a videoconference of EU defense ministers.

Amid escalating tensions with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian discussed ways Monday to further enhance cooperation between Athens and Paris.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is traveling to Israel today on his first foreign visit since the coronavirus outbreak. The message is clear, and it is being sent out in several directions. After deepening their mutually beneficial relationship (which is not aimed at any third country) for a decade, Greece and Israel are pushing ties to a new level.

France wants talks with NATO allies to discuss Turkey's increasingly "aggressive" and "unacceptable" role in Libya, a French presidential official said on Monday, underscoring increased tensions between Ankara and Paris.

Turkey and Libya's internationally recognized government are discussing possible Turkish use of two military bases in the North African country, a Turkish source said on Monday, with a view to a lasting Turkish presence in the south Mediterranean.