Foreign Minister: Haftar Seeking Military Solution, Unlike Syrian Regime

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Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar is seeking a military solution to the conflict in the country, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said.

"We are not pessimistic but there is a fact that Haftar does not want peace. He seeks a military solution, not a political process, unlike the Syrian regime" Çavuşoğlu said at a panel in the capital Ankara.

Haftar not accepting the ceasefire agreement also frustrated Russia, he asserted.

On January 12, the warring sides of the Libyan conflict announced a cease-fire in response to the call of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Çavuşoğlu also touched on the cease-fire in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib that began early Sunday, succeeding a violated de-escalation deal reached in September 2018.

"Turkey will take necessary steps in Idlib, Syria if there is any security risk," he said, adding that this is not a threat to the regime.

Turkey and Russia agreed in September 2018 to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited. (TP/VK)