ANKARA: Turkey is ready to rapidly start rebuilding conflict-torn Libya, a senior Turkish official said on Friday, after President Tayyip Erdogan’s senior deputies visited Tripoli this week to discuss cooperation on energy, construction and banking.
Turkish support has helped the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) reverse a 14-month assault on Tripoli by Khalifa Haftar’s eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) that is backed by Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
A Turkish delegation including the foreign and finance ministers met GNA officials on Wednesday for talks Ankara said aimed to bring about an end to fighting.
They also discussed payments owed to Turkish companies for past energy and construction work in Libya, the official told Reuters, requesting anonymity.
The Turkish and GNA officials discussed how Turkey could help in energy exploration and operations, including cooperation “on every imaginable project” to help resources reach global markets, the senior official said.
“Many parts of the country are in debris, there is a serious need for infrastructure and superstructure. Turkish companies ... are in a position to rapidly begin such work,” the official said.
Before Turkey officially threw its support behind the GNA in November last year, Turkish builders had worked on projects in Libya. The backlog of Turkish contract work in Libya amounts to $16 billion, including $400-500 million for projects which have not yet begun, a sector official said in January.
Turkish energy firm Karadeniz Power could use its ships to remotely alleviate Libya’s energy shortages amid the fighting, the official added.
Another Turkish source said Ankara and the GNA also discussed sending Turkish advisers to Tripoli to help rebuild its banking system.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on broadcaster CNN Turk that part of the talks were about Turkish firms returning to Libya after the conflict. He said Turkey may also expand the scope of its military cooperation with the GNA.
Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in Syria too, have been collaborating for a cease-fire in Libya. Turkish entry into the conflict has also stoked tensions with other actors, as Ankara seeks a foothold in the oil-rich North African country.
The GNA and LNA have resumed United Nations-brokered cease-fire talks.
Turkey ready for fast reconstruction in conflict-torn Libya, official says
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Turkey ready for fast reconstruction in conflict-torn Libya, official says
- The backlog of Turkish contract work in Libya amounts to $16 billion, including $400-500 million for projects which have not yet begun
- Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on broadcaster CNN Turk that part of the talks were about Turkish firms returning to Libya after the conflict
US believes Israel, Lebanon have agreed terms to end Israel-Hezbollah conflict
WASHINGTON: Israel and Lebanon have agreed to the terms of a deal to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, Axios reported on Monday citing an unnamed senior US official.
Israel’s government on Monday said it was moving toward a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah but there were still outstanding issues.
Arrest Warrant: UK would follow ‘due process’ if Netanyahu were to visit – foreign minister
- ICC issued arrest warrants on Thursday against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
- Several EU states have said they will meet commitments under the statute if needed
FIUGGI: Britain would follow due process if Benjamin Netanyahu visited the UK, foreign minister David Lammy said on Monday, when asked if London would fulfil the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister.
“We are signatories to the Rome Statute, we have always been committed to our obligations under international law and international humanitarian law,” Lammy told reporters at a G7 meeting in Italy.
“Of course, if there were to be such a visit to the UK, there would be a court process and due process would be followed in relation to those issues.”
The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes against humanity.
Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.
“The states that signed the Rome convention must implement the court’s decision. It’s not optional,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.
Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.
Turkiye man kills seven before taking his own life
Istanbul: A 33-year-old Turkish man shot dead seven people in Istanbul on Sunday, including his parents, his wife and his 10-year-old son, before taking his own life, the authorities reported on Monday.
The man, who was found dead in his car shortly after the shooting, is also accused of wounding two other family members, one of them seriously, the Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement.
The authorities, who had put the death toll at four on Sunday evening, announced on Monday the discovery near a lake on Istanbul’s European shore of the bodies of the killer’s wife and son, as well as the lifeless body of his mother-in-law.
According to the Small Arms Survey (SAS), a Swiss research program, over 13.2 million firearms are in circulation in Turkiye, most of them illegally, for a population of around 85 million.
2 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in West Bank: PA
- The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli forces entered the village on Sunday night
Yabad: The Palestinian Authority said two Palestinians, including a teenage boy, were killed during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank village of Yabad.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli forces entered the village on Sunday night, leading to clashes during which soldiers shot dead two Palestinians.
The two dead were identified by the Palestinian health ministry as Muhammad Rabie Hamarsheh, 13, and Ahmad Mahmud Zaid, 20.
“Overnight, during an IDF (Israeli army) counterterrorism activity in the area of Yabad, two terrorists hurled explosives at IDF soldiers. The soldiers responded with fire and hits were identified,” an Israeli military source told AFP.
Last week, the Israeli army launched several raids in the West Bank city of Jenin, killing nine people, most of them Palestinian militants.
Violence in the West Bank has soared since the war in Gaza erupted on October 7 last year after Hamas’s attack on Israel.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 777 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry.
Palestinian attacks on Israelis have also killed at least 24 people in the West Bank in the same period, according to Israeli official figures.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
Israel says hit Hezbollah command center in deadly weekend strike
- The strike hit a residential building in the heart of Beirut before dawn Saturday
- Since September 23, Israel has intensified its Lebanon air campaign
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army on Monday said it had struck a Hezbollah command center in the downtown Beirut neighborhood of Basta in a deadly air strike at the weekend.
“The IDF (Israeli military) struck a Hezbollah command center,” the army said regarding the strike that the Lebanese health ministry said killed 29 people and wounded 67 on Saturday.
The strike hit a residential building in the heart of Beirut before dawn Saturday, leaving a large crater, AFP journalists at the scene reported.
A senior Lebanese security source said that “a high-ranking Hezbollah officer was targeted” in the strike, without confirming whether or not the official had been killed.
Hezbollah official Amin Cherri said no leader of the Lebanese movement was targeted in Basta.
Since September 23, Israel has intensified its Lebanon air campaign, later sending in ground troops against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The war followed nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the Gaza war.
The conflict has killed at least 3,754 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September this year.
On the Israeli side, authorities say at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have been killed.
