Muammar Gaddafi

The interior minister of Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) said on Feb. 22 the government would not set obstacles for the U.S. if it sought to establish military bases in the country.

The head of Libya's U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) on Feb. 21 discussed recent developments in his country with the U.S. ambassador to the Turkish capital Ankara.

The regimented police state that renegade Libyan general Khalifa Haftar is attempting to build is both "more puritanical and more lawless than" that of the country's deposed longtime strongman Muammar Gaddafi, according to a recently published investigation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Feb. 20 met with Libya's Fayez al-Sarraj, the prime minister of U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).

Erdoğan received Sarraj in the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul. The leaders held a closed-door meeting.

Flights to Libya's only civil airport were halted amid attacks by militias loyal to renegade Libyan general Khalifa Haftar on Feb. 17.

In a statement, management of the Mitiga Airport in the Libyan capital Tripoli said the airport was targeted during a Libyan Airlines' plane's take off.

Turkish intelligence has changed the regional dynamics in politics by foiling plots against the country, Turkey's foreign minister said on Jan. 29, responding to an Israeli daily's targeting of Turkish spy chief Hakan Fidan.

Turkey on Jan. 29 urged France to stop supporting Libya's renegade commander Khalifa Haftar.

"If France wants to contribute to the implementation of decisions taken at the [Berlin] Conference, it should first stop supporting Haftar," Hami Aksoy, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

Turkey's president on Jan. 28 said Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar has no official recognition either in the war-weary country or the international community.

Forces loyal to Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar are not concerned about peace or a ceasefire in Libya, Turkey's president said on Jan. 27.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Gambia with his Gambian counterpart Adama Barrow, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan referred to a statement on Jan. 26 by Ahmed Al-Mismari, the spokesman for Haftar's forces.

Some 300 Turks living in and around the Libyan capital have said that they feel better after a truce between the battling sides in the country.

Turkish citizens living under the siege by Gen. Khalifa Haftar's military forces for nine months are mostly owners of restaurants, furniture shops and auto mechanic shops, according to the Turkish consulate in Tripoli.