LNA accuse Turkey of backing chaos and terrorism in Libya

Forces loyal to eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar accused Turkey of supporting militias, chaos and terrorist groups in Libya and ferrying arms to the war-torn country on Libyan Airlines planes flying from Turkey to the city of Misrata, London based pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported on Tuesday.

Haftar’s eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), backed mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, began an offensive against Tripoli in the west of the country in April, but the offensive has been blocked by forces loyal to the capital on the city’s outskirts. The government in Tripoli is mainly backed by Turkey and Qatar.

“We realise fully that cleansing Tripoli of militias means that Turkey will lose a golden base that is compensating it for its losses in the international arena,” Asharq al-Awsat quoted LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari as saying.

The LNA has repeatedly accused Turkey of supporting Islamist factions in western Libya. Mismari also said that Libyan Airlines planes were delivering weapons from Turkey to Misrata, east of the capital Tripoli, Asharq al-Awsat said.

The factional conflict has plagued Libya since the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Libyan authorities discovered two shipments of arms from Turkey in December, in violation of a U.N. Security Council weapons embargo on Libya.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu denied any involvement in the shipment.