Anadolou reported on Saturday that the Turkish Parliament approved security and military cooperation with Libya.
As Gurdian reported on Friday, the UN-recognized Libyan government agreed to activate a military cooperation agreement with Turkey, bringing closer the possible dispatch of Turkish advisory troops to help defend the capital, Tripoli.
The announcement by the Government of National Accord (GNA) followed high-level military meetings designed to assess the imminent threat to Tripoli posed by forces from eastern Libya under the command of the warlord Khalifa Haftar.
Turkey and Libya signed a military memorandum of understanding on 27 November that has already been presented to the Turkish parliament. It provides for Turkish troops to be sent to Libya at the request of the GNA.
The short GNA statement activating the memorandum is seen as equivalent to a request, but it seems unlikely Turkey would send troops in the near future since the size of any force would have to be agreed with the Turkish parliament. The GNA prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj, met Turkish foreign and defense officials in Doha, Qatar, at the weekend to discuss the Libyan crisis.
MNA/PR