Türkiye's Fidan meets Libyan unity government officials in Ankara

Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held talks with Libya's acting Interior Minister Bassam Imad Trabelsi in the capital Ankara on Tuesday regarding security cooperation, according to a ministry statement. In a separate meeting held the same day, Fidan also met with Libya's acting Defense Minister Abdulsalam Zubi and Ibrahim Dbeibeh, who serves as national security advisor to Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry did not immediately disclose specific agenda items or outcomes from the gatherings. The meetings come amid ongoing international efforts to stabilize the North African nation, which has remained divided between rival administrations since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Strategic partnership

Ankara maintains close ties with the United Nations-recognized Government of National Unity based in Tripoli, having signed a maritime boundary agreement with Libya in 2019 that delineated exclusive economic zones in the Eastern Mediterranean. Türkiye has provided military and technical support to the unity government, which controls the capital and western regions but faces opposition from a parallel administration in the east aligned with warlord Khalifa Haftar.

Fidan, a former head of Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization who assumed the foreign ministry portfolio in June 2023, has prioritized deepening relations with African and Mediterranean states. Libya holds strategic importance for Ankara as a key energy transit partner and gateway for commercial interests across the Sahel region.