Turkey

17 Jan 2019; MEMO: Turkish foreign affairs minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, refuted allegations over granting Turkish citizenship, or offering compensation, to soldiers affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, in exchange for fighting in Libya.

ANKARA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkey is sending troops to Libya to support the UN-backed Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday.

"We are sending our troops to Libya to ensure the survival and stability of the legitimate government in this country," Erdogan said at the Annual Evaluation Meeting for 2019 at Bestepe National Congress and Culture Center in Ankara.

16 Jan 2019; MEMO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump discussed developments in Libya in a phone call on Wednesday, the White House and Turkey’s presidency said, days ahead of a summit in Berlin that will address the Libyan conflict, Reuters reports.

16 Jan 2019; MEMO: Renegade Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar is seeking a military solution to the lingering conflict in the country, Turkey’s foreign minister said Wednesday, Anadolu reports.

“This is true that Haftar does not want peace. He seeks a military solution, not a political process,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a panel in the capital Ankara.

Despite that Turkey is not pessimistic about the Libya issue, he added.

15 Jan 2019; MEMO: Turkey’s ban on online encyclopedia Wikipedia is set to be lifted after the official publication on Wednesday of a Constitutional Court ruling that the more than two-year block was a violation of freedom of expression, reports Reuters.

The detailed version of the ruling published in the Official Gazette opens the way for an end to the ban, put in place in April 2017 due to entries that accused Turkey of having links to terrorist organisations.

ANKARA, Jan 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Turkey will not refrain from “teaching a lesson” to Khalifa Haftar if his eastern Libyan forces continue attacks against the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, President Tayyip Erdogan said.

Turkey and Russia failed to convince Haftar on Monday to sign a binding truce to halt his nine-month campaign to try to conquer the Libyan capital from forces aligned with the internationally recognized government.

Ankara, Jan 14 (AP) Turkish authorities on Tuesday detained 115 soldiers suspected of links to the U.S.-based Muslim cleric blamed by Turkey for a failed coup attempt in 2016, the state-run news agency reported.

Anadolu Agency says the 115 are among a total of 176 soldiers that prosecutors ordered detained as part of an ongoing investigation into cleric Fethullah Gulen's network.

ANKARA, Jan 14 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Negotiations between Libya’s warring leaders in Moscow, are going positively, Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Monday.

“We are trying to make the cease-fire in Libya permanent,” Erdogan said, at a press conference in Ankara, with visiting Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte.

Erdogan noted that, he will attend a meeting in Berlin on Jan 19, to discuss Libya’s peace process, along with Conte and Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

ANKARA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Negotiations between Libya's warring leaders in Moscow are going positively, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday.

"We are trying to make the cease-fire in Libya permanent," Erdogan said at a press conference in Ankara with visiting Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

Erdogan noted that he will attend a meeting in Berlin on Jan. 19 to discuss Libya's peace process, along with Conte and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We have supported the Berlin process in a constructive way and continue to support it," he stated.

ISTANBUL, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday met with European Council President Charles Michel in Istanbul to discuss the latest developments in the region as well as bilateral relations.

The relation between Turkey and the European Union has been stalled over a series of issues topped by Turkey's sending troops to Libya and the drilling activities in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.