Turkish intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın met with Saddam Haftar, deputy commander of East Libya-based forces, in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, security sources said on June 23.
Kalın, the head of Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT), held talks with Haftar on issues related to maintaining peace in Libya, the sources said.
The meeting also addressed efforts to unite the administrations and military forces in Libya’s east and west under a single authority.
Türkiye-Libya relations were also discussed, along with steps to expand cooperation in various fields and strengthen the partnership between the two sides.
The meeting came after Libya’s eastern-based forces signaled readiness last week to engage in negotiations over a U.S. initiative aimed at unifying the country’s executive authority, saying the proposal could provide a pathway toward a political settlement and an end to Libya’s long-running crisis.
The Financial Times reported that that U.S. envoy Massad Boulos is seeking to mediate a power-sharing agreement between Libya’s rival administrations in the east and west.
Libya has remained politically divided for years between rival administrations in the east and west, while repeated efforts to organize nationwide elections have stalled amid disputes over the constitutional basis and candidate eligibility criteria.
Boulos’ initiative “is based on realism and a clear understanding of the complex realities on the ground,” the command of the eastern Libyan forces said in a statement.
