Tripoli

Turkey's presidential spokesman discussed developments in Syria and Libya over the phone with the U.S. national security advisor, Turkish presidential sources said early on Jan. 17.

By George Gilson

In a resounding response to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to bar Greece from the 19 January Libya peace conference, Libya National Army leader General Khalifa Haftar arrived in Athens for talks with Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis just two days before the conference.

Expressing his dismay that Greece was not invited to attend Sunday's Berlin Conference on Libya, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis vowed on Thursday to veto any solution on the North African country if the maritime border deal between the Tripoli-based government with Turkey is not scrapped.

Libya's Khalifa Haftar, commander of eastern Libyan forces, arrived in Athens Thursday and was expected to have talks there on Friday with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias during a stopover on his way to Berlin for a conference on the Libya crisis.

Libya's Khalifa Haftar, commander of eastern Libyan forces, is expected in Athens later in the day.
He is expected to hold an informal meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Thursday ahead of their official talks on Friday. Sources said he will also hold talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The agreement on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean Sea signed between Turkey and the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) infringes the interests and the sovereign rights of European Union member states, particularly of Greece and Cyprus, France said on Thursday, adding that the memorandum violates the UN Law of the Sea Convention.

Turkey is beginning to send troops into Libya in support of the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, days before a summit in Berlin which will address the Libyan conflict.

The European Union will be prepared in case of any migration wave from Libya amid crisis in the region, a European Union official said on Jan. 15.

This is a very difficult period for the country's foreign policy. It is therefore useful that we keep a few basic things in mind.
First, we should not react in an erratic manner, celebrating on one day because "the eastern Libyan forces of Khalifa Haftar are about to make their way into Tripoli" and grieving the next because "Erdogan is playing on a whole other level."

Berlin hopes to get all international players to use their influence to push for progress on Libya peace talks, a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, setting out modest ambitions for a Berlin peace conference this weekend.

Spokesman Rainer Breul said the aim was "broader" than the Moscow conference, whose aim had been to secure a ceasefire.