Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu strongly defended the memorandum of understanding signed with Libya's Government of National Unity weeks ago, claiming that Ankara saved Libya from "the specter of the Syrian scenario."

Cavusoglu was speaking to civil society organizations and businessmen in the southern Turkish province of Hatay, adjacent to the Syrian border, Turkish media reported on Sunday.

Referring to the tragedy that has been ongoing in Syria for years, as well as similar events in Libya and Iraq, he said that "had it not been for the support provided by Turkey to Libya, especially in repelling the attack on the capital, Tripoli, it would have been similar to Syria's situation today", referring to the military attack on the capital, which It lasted from April 2019 to June 2020 and ended with the retreat of LNA forces to Sirte after a Turkish intervention.

The Turkish minister added: "But today we are signing agreements to define maritime jurisdiction areas with Libya, and we have signed an agreement in the field of hydrocarbons."

On October 3, senior Turkish officials visited Tripoli, signing key documents with the Government of National Unity to develop bilateral scientific, technical, technological, legal, administrative, and commercial cooperation in the field of onshore and offshore oil and gas.

The memorandums followed previous agreements in November 2019 that outlined the maritime borders between Libya and Turkey in the Mediterranean amid protests from Greece, France, the EU and Egypt.