Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that his country is cooperating with Russia and other actors in the Libyan scene in order to unify the security forces in the country.

This came during a press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Ankara on Friday, where he stressed their agreement on the necessity of holding democratic and transparent elections in Libya.

In turn, Lavrov referred to "the unity of the two countries with regard to the Libyan crisis," saying: "Among the regional issues, we discussed the Libyan file, especially after the destruction of this country by NATO aggression."

He continued: “There have been several attempts to reform Libya by the European Union and regional countries, but the work is still not progressing at the desired pace.”

It is noteworthy that Ankara has strengthened its military and economic presence in western Libya, recently through the establishment of a joint naval training center in the city of Khoms, after activating a memorandum of military and security cooperation signed with the former Government of National Accord in 2019.

After the end of the capital war in June 2020, Turkish forces settled in Tripoli and its environs, while the Russian Wagner Group forces took positions in the oil and gas fields in eastern and southern Libya.