Inviting Haftar to Greece 'sabotages' peace efforts: Çavuşoğlu

Turkey on Saturday lashed out at Greece for hosting Libyan putschist general Khalifa Haftar ahead of an international conference in Berlin, saying that the move by Athens would "sabotage" peace efforts.

"Inviting Haftar to Greece and highlighting the Greek national agenda sabotage the efforts to bring peace to Libya," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu wrote on Twitter.

"We would like to remind our Greek friends that these futile efforts are in vain. @NikosDendias," he said, referring to the Greek foreign minister who met with Haftar this week.

Haftar flew to Athens on Thursday for a surprise visit as Greece seeks to build ties with the Libyan commander after the UN-recognised government in Tripoli signed security and maritime deals with Turkey.

Athens is fiercely opposed to the maritime deal between Ankara and Tripoli, which claims much of the Mediterranean for energy exploration, conflicting with rival claims by Greece and Cyprus.

Turkey has strongly supported the Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj, and its parliament approved a motion to send troops to Libya earlier this month.

Çavuşoğlu said Turkey's two separate deals with Tripoli have alarmed Greece, noting that instead of dialogue, Athens chose to cut diplomatic relations with what he called Libya's "legitimate government".

"Unfortunately, they act with the understanding that 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'," he said.
The two pacts Turkey "signed with the legitimate government in Libya have alarmed Greece. Instead of dialogue, they severed diplomatic relations with the legitimate government. Unfortunately, they act with the understanding that 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'," he wrote.

"Actually behind this, there are efforts to impose maritime jurisdiction claims on Libya. In the past years, they have set up oil and gas license areas to the south of Crete in a way that usurps the rights and interests of Libya. When faced with this situation, the legitimate government of Libya signed a memorandum of understanding with us to protect their rights," he explained.

Haftar visited Greece and met with top Greek officials on Friday, ahead of Sunday's conference on Libya in Berlin.

Haftar also had a one-to-one meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, who said afterwards that Haftar agreed the treaties signed between Turkey and Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) need to be cancelled.

On Nov. 27, Ankara and the GNA signed two separate pacts, one on military cooperation and the other on maritime boundaries of countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The maritime pact asserted Turkey's rights in the Eastern Mediterranean in the face of unilateral drilling by the Greek Cypriot administration, clarifying that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus also has rights to the resources in the area. It went into effect on Dec. 8.

Greek Premier Mitsotakis said late Thursday that they will veto "any political solution" to the conflict in Libya on the EU Council level if the Turkish-Libyan treaties are not canceled.

Mitsotakis also expressed his discomfort over not being invited to the Berlin conference on Libya this Sunday.

The conference was convened by Germany in an attempt to reach a political solution to the conflict.

The Greek government had expressed its desire to participate in the conference, but was not included.

The German government said in addition to Haftar and Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the UN-recognized government in Libya, those invited to the conference include representatives from Turkey, Russia, China, France, Italy, the U.S., Britain, the UAE, Republic of Congo, the UN, the EU, African Union, Arab League, Algeria, and Egypt.

Since the ouster of late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: one in eastern Libya supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and the other in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.