ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey on Tuesday slammed French criticism of its role in Libya, saying the comments showed the “dark and inexplicable” policy by France towards Libya, and accused its NATO ally of exacerbating the crisis by supporting the forces of Khalifa Haftar.
On Monday, France said it wanted talks with NATO allies to discuss Turkey’s increasingly “aggressive” role in Libya, and accused Ankara, which supports Libya’s internationally recognised government, of thwarting truce efforts by breaking a U.N. arms embargo.
“The support France has provided the putschist and pirate Haftar, who aims to impose an authoritarian regime by toppling the legitimate government and who has openly announced he does not want a political solution, has exacerbated the crisis in Libya,” the Turkish foreign ministry said. “It is unacceptable for a NATO ally to behave this way,” it said.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Chris Reese)
