Turkey's president said Monday that Libya's eastern-based pro-Haftar militias have entered a "regression" phase in the conflict with the U.N.-supported government in Tripoli, following a series of setbacks.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed continued support for the U.N. backed government in Libya, speaking after a Cabinet meeting.
"The pro-coup Haftar has entered a period of regression," Erdoğan said. "The efforts of the countries that have provided him with endless financial support and weapons will not be enough to save him."
Countries that provide him unlimited financial support and weapons will not be enough to save Haftar, who also faces opposition from locals in the lands he occupies with every step he takes, said Erdoğan, adding: "Hopefully, we will soon receive new good news from Libya."
Pro-Haftar militias are backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia. For months his forces, bolstered by shipments of powerful missiles, jets and drones, held an advantage over the coalition of fractious militias while besieging the U.N.-supported government in Tripoli. But Turkey's escalating support for its Libyan allies has shifted momentum of the conflict.
Western Libyan forces have thwarted Haftar's advances, recaptured coastal cities near the Tunisian border, attacked Haftar's key western airbase and tightened their siege on his stronghold of Tarhuna.
The Libyan Army has recently made gains against Haftar's militias, which are supported by France, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.
Following the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya's government was founded in 2015 under a UN-led political deal. Since April 2019, the government has been under attack by Haftar's forces, based in eastern Libya, and more than 1,000 people have been killed in the violence.
