By Libya Herald staff.
Benghazi, 21 October 2014:
Turkey’s new Special Envoy to Libya, Emrullah Isler, is the latest of the group of . . .[restrict]international special envoys to visit to Libya to assess the situation and hold talks with Libyan leaders. In his case, he also flew to Malta where the Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni is on a two-day official visit.
In Tripoli, in a move that is likely to anger the UN and other countries, he broke with the international community’s refusal to recognise Omar Al-Hassi’s anti-government by meeting with him and his ministers.
Isler, a former deputy prime minister and Ankara MP for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party who caused uproar earlier this month by tweeting his preference for IS over the outlawed Kurdish militant group the PKK , was appointed Special Envoy yesterday just before he left for Libya.
“In these critical times when there is a pressing need in Libya for political stability and the support of countries friendly to it, this visit constitutes an opportunity to underscore that Turkey stands in solidarity with the people of Libya,” a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said yesterday.
He started his visit by flying to Tobruk where he met House of Representatives President Ageela Saleh and a number of other HoR members. In the their talks, the Turkish envoy, like all the other international special envoys, stressed the need for an immediate cease-fire and for all parties to take part in dialogue. Military force would not bring peace and stability to Libya, he said.
He is also reported to have expressed Turkey’s continued willingness to help rebuild Libya. He then flew to Malta for talks with Thinni.
Today he flew to Misrata, the de facto master of Tripoli, where he met local officals as well as members of HoR who are boycotting its proceedings.
In Tripoli, he met with Omar Al-Hassi and members of the rump Congress appointed government – a development that is likely to further damage the already strained relations between Ankara and the international community over the IS in Syria.
The Turkish Chargé d’Affairs to Libya has meanwhile been to Tripoli to assess the situation there.
Last week, Italy’s Special Envoy Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi, who is also Italian Ambassador to Tripoli, made a similar visit to Tobruk, Beida and Misrata, to meet most the same leaders but not any member of the Hassi anti-government. He was there in support of the UN’s efforts to bring about agreement between the HoR’s supporters and boycotters. [/restrict]
