Khalifa Haftar

Turkey and Russia will hold two-day talks on Syria and Libya, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has an-nounced, amid ongoing ceasefires in both theaters.

Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalın spoke via telephone on Aug. 14 with U.S. National Security Advisor Robert C. O'Brien about bilateral relations, Libya, the Eastern Mediterranean and Palestine, according to an official statement.  

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.

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).

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.

The Turkish army's training and guidance contributed "very significantly" to the recent military success of Libya's U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), Turkey's defense minister has said.

A planned visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to Turkey for June 14 was postponed after a phone conversation between the foreign ministers on June 14, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

The U.N. is urging an investigation after the discovery of multiple mass graves in the city of Tarhuna, Libya, recently liberated from warlord Khalifa Haftar.

The Turkish defense minister and NATO secretary-general discussed Syria, Libya and regional issues in a phone call, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said in a statement on June 12.

Hulusi Akar and Jens Stoltenberg also exchanged views on NATO issues, said the statement.

Turkey's presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın on June 12 said Ankara is in favor of a political solution in Libya.

Speaking to reporters after his official visit to Berlin, Kalın said Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar violated the Berlin agreement like many others before it.

Kalın said the Libyan government has recently regained strategic locations and cities from Haftar.