Turkey's Erdoğan speaks to senior Libyan officials over phone

The president of Turkey held separate phone calls with Libyan officials on Saturday, according to Turkey's Communications Directorate.

Turkey-Libya relations and regional developments were on the agenda in President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's discussions with the head of Libya's Presidential Council Mohammad Menfi and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, the directorate said in a statement.

Erdoğan congratulated the Libyan National Unity Government for the vote of confidence it received from the country's parliament earlier this month, adding that this would bring new hope for a lasting solution in the country.

Reiterating Turkey's support for Libya's sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and political unity, Erdoğan said the two countries should further imrpove cooperation and preserve their mutual gains in the coming period.

On Feb. 5, Libyan delegates elected Menfi to head the three-member Presidential Council and Dbeibeh the new prime minister. The new executive authority will govern Libya in the lead-up to national elections on Dec. 24.

The Libyan parliament granted a vote of confidence to Dbeibeh's government on March 10 with 132 votes of the 133 lawmakers who attended the session.

Libyans hope it will end years of civil war that have engulfed the country since the ouster and killing of strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi in 2011.