to support its work in Libya, where it is providing military support to
the internationally recognized government, if it wants to end the
conflict there.
Erdogan
made his remarks in a column published on the Politico website on
Saturday, ahead of a summit in Berlin on Sunday that will try to
stabilize the country.
At
the meeting, Germany and the United Nations will push rival Libyan
camps fighting over the capital, Tripoli, to agree to a truce and
monitoring mechanism as first steps toward peace, diplomats and a draft
communique said.
Turkey
supports the government of Fayez al-Serraj in Tripoli and describes
Khalifa Haftar, who heads the eastern Libyan National Army (LNA), as a
coup plotter.
"Keeping
in mind that Europe is less interested in providing military support to
Libya, the obvious choice is to work with Turkey, which has already
promised military assistance," Erdogan wrote.
"We
will train Libya's security forces and help them combat terrorism,
human trafficking and other serious threats against international
security," he added.
Conversation with Merkel
As
the summit loomed, the Turkish president spoke by phone with its host,
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to discuss developments in Libya and
the region, Erdogan's office said.
In
a sign of tensions surrounding the Libyan issue, Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticised Greece for hosting Haftar ahead of
the summit in a tweet directed at Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.
"Inviting
Haftar to Greece and highlighting Greek national agenda sabotage the
efforts to bring peace to Libya. We would like to remind our Greek
friends that these futile efforts are in vain. @NikosDendias," Cavusoglu
wrote.
Sunday's
summit will put pressure on Haftar and the LNA to halt a nine-month
offensive against Tripoli after a weeklong lull in fighting. But it will
not try to broker power-sharing between the two sides, said diplomats
briefed on preparations.
VOA