By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 1 September 2014:
The Foreign Ministry has attacked Turkish President Recep Erdogan following statements he . . .[restrict]allegedly made calling the meeting of the House of Representatives in Tobruk “improper”.
Erdogan is reported to have said that Turkey “fundamentally cannot accept the parliament meeting in Tobruk”. The statement closely echoes those of the Misratan-led Libya Dawn Operation which also said yesterday that it would recognise the House of Representatives only if it met in Tripoli.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was “surprised” by what it had perceived as the “blatant interference in Libyan internal affairs”. It called on Erdogan to clarify his statements noting that he had congratulated the newly-elected House of Representatives after it held its first session in Tobruk in August.
For its part, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has Turkey has condemned the Libyan position saying that any criticism of Erdogan’s views was “unacceptable”.
“The questioning of Mr President’s sincerity and feelings towards our Libyan brothers is, in the lightest way possible, totally unfair and unacceptable,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic was quoted as saying by the Anadolu news agency.
The Turkish government is widely viewed in Libya as supporting the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood since the revolution, alongside Qatar. Libyan Muslim Brotherhood figures are known to visit Turkey regularly for meetings and use it as a safe haven. The significance of Libya within the context of the region’s ideological fault-lines came to the fore last month when it emerged that the UAE and Egypt, both bitterly opposed to the brotherhood, had collaborated to bomb positions in Tripoli held by armed groups sympathetic to the Islamist movement.
The Tobruk-based Operation Dignity, which has offered protection to the House of Representatives, has been seen to have the backing of both Egypt and the UAE.
Last week Emirati authorities rounded up at least 30 Libyan nationals believed to have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Libya Dawn.
The Foreign Ministry reminded Turkish authorities that the the United Nations had recognised the legitimacy of the House of Representatives. The European Union, the Arab League, the African Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council have also recognised the new parliament.
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