Ibrahim Kalın, head of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) (right), met with Akile Salih, Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives (center), and Muhammad Takala, Chairman of the High State Council (left). AA photo.
Ankara has stepped up its mediation efforts between Libya’s rival Tripoli and Benghazi administrations, quietly hosting reconciliation talks in the Turkish capital to foster national unity and stability.
According to security sources, National Intelligence Organization (MIT) President İbrahim Kalın met Aguila Saleh, the speaker of Libya’s House of Representatives, and Mohammed Takala, the president of Libya’s High Council of State (HSC), on late September 10 in Ankara.
Saleh represents the eastern administration based in Benghazi under the leadership of General Khalifa Hafter and Takala has recently been re-elected as the head of the HSC in Tripoli under the U.N.-recognized Government of National Unity (GNU) led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.
The talks in Ankara followed an agreement reached by the two rival camps, dubbed the 4+4 agreement, which outlines concrete steps toward institutional unification and the realization of national elections.
A North African country, known for its rich carbon reserves, has been divided since 2014. Türkiye supported the Tripoli-based, UN-recognized government since 2019 but has recently developed good relations with Benghazi as well. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s recent visit to Libya did cover both administrations and aimed to foster ties between the two countries.
According to sources, the talks in Ankara addressed recent developments in Libya and the region, the political and military unification of Libya, and steps that need to be taken for further improvement of the Türkiye-Libya relationship.
The meeting also addressed achieving permanent progress on issues that have remained unresolved for a long time and reaching a broad consensus among all parties, sources stated.
The sources informed that Saleh and Takala agreed on the goals of ensuring political unity in the entirety of Libya while emphasizing the leading roles of the HSC and the House of Representatives.
The meeting in Ankara injected fresh hopes for overcoming standing obstacles in front of holding presidential and national elections and reaching a fully unified government in Libya.
Sources recalled that the meeting in Ankara is considered highly significant, as it marks the first time the heads of the two institutions came together in Türkiye to discuss these issues and made concrete progress on processes that had been at a deadlock.
