By Jamie Prentis.
Tunis, 30 January 2017:
Turkey reopened its embassy in Tripoli today – the second country to do so since the general diplomatic exodus in 2014. Italy reopened its embassy three weeks ago.
One of the first visitors to the reopened embassy was UN special envoy Martin Kobler.
In its announcement of the Turkish reopening, the Turkish foreign ministry said that the preparations had been made by the country’s ambassador to Libya, Ahmet Aydin Dogan, who until today had been based in Tunis. The embassy would, however, initially operate with reduced staff, it added.
The initial move is largely political. According to officials, the consular section will reopen later, so too will the commercial, defence and labour sections.
The reopening would nonetheless “allow Turkey to make stronger contributions to efforts to build peace and stability, as well as reconstruction in Libya,” the ministry stated, noting that the Turkish consulate general in Misrata had remained open without interruption.
It would also continue “to support the territorial integrity and national unity of brotherly Libya, as well as steps to be taken on the basis of the Libyan Political Agreement towards peace and reconciliation”.
Turkish foreign minister Cavusoglu who tweeted about the opening earlier this morning was in Tripoli last May to begin the process of reopening the embassy.
