Tripoli

Turkey has urged U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to be more active in Libya by boosting efforts for a political solution and cease-fire, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has revealed, reiterating that the continued deadly offensive by General Khalifa Haftar's forces risks deeper chaos and further disintegration in the country.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis plans to brief US President Donald Trump on Turkish violations in the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean and the threat they pose to international stability and regional security, he told an event in Tarpon Springs, Florida, on the first of a four-day visit to the United States on Sunday night.

At the same time that the EastMed pipeline construction agreement was being signed in Athens last Thursday, Turkey's Parliament was approving a military deployment to Libya.

Turkey has slammed an attack by General Khalifa Haftar forces against a military academy in Tripoli, which claimed the lives of at least 30 academy students, and renewed its calls on the cessation of foreign military support to Haftar.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis plans to brief Greece's political party leaders on recent foreign policy developments immediately after his return from the US, where he will hold talks with President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, according to reports Friday.

Libya's eastern-based parliament has voted to reject the agreements signed between the country's internationally-recognized government and Turkey on maritime rights in the Mediterranean and military cooperation, Egypt Today reports.

The head of the U.N. on Jan. 4 urged an "immediate ceasefire" in war-weary Libya where the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) fights forces affiliated with Gen. Khalifa Haftar.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called again for an immediate cease-fire in Libya and a return to talks by all the warring parties.

The UN chief warned in a statement from his deputy spokesman that "any foreign support to the warring parties will only deepen the ongoing conflict and further complicate efforts to reach a peaceful and comprehensive political solution."

Libya's High Council of State welcomed the passage of a motion by Turkey's parliament on sending troops to Libya.

The council's statement followed a request by the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) for help.

Turkey's bill allowing troop deployment in Libya marks a dangerous escalation in the North African country's civil war and severely threatens stability in the region, a joint statement by Greece, Israel and Cyprus said late on Thursday.