Militants loyal to Libya's government in Tripoli. The Turkish vote gives Recep Tayyip Erdogan a mandate to send troops to prop up the Libyan administration. (PHOTO: Mahmud Turkia/AFP/Getty)
CAIRO – 3 January 2020: A joint statement by Greece, Cyprus and Israel late on Thursday said Turkey's bill allowing troop deployment in Libya marks a dangerous escalation in the North African country's civil war and severely threatens stability in the region.
"This decision constitutes a gross violation of the UNSC resolution...imposing an arms embargo in Libya and seriously undermines the international community's efforts to find a peaceful, political solution to the Libyan conflict," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said in the statement.
Turkish parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill that allows troops to be deployed in Libya, in a clear breach of sovereignty.
Turkey's move comes after Ankara and the internationally recognized government of Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj signed two separate agreements in November: one on security and military cooperation and another on maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean.
Moreover, Egypt has strongly condemned the Turkish Parliament’s decision, highlighting the blatant violation of the Turkish move against all international accords and UNSC resolutions, especially the 1970/2011 resolution, which included sanctions against Libya including an open-ended embargo on the supply of arms and military equipment to and from Libya
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