President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday Turkey is ready to provide Tripoli any military support it needs after Ankara and Libya's internationally recognized government signed a security deal.
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"We will be protecting the rights of Libya and Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean," he said on A Haber TV, as reported by Reuters.
"We are more than ready to give whatever support necessary to Libya," Erdogan said.
Khalifa Haftar, who leads forces in eastern Libya, "is not a legitimate leader...and is representative of an illegal structure," Erdogan said after meeting in Istanbul with Fayez al-Sarraj, prime minister of Libya's Government of National Accord.