Turkey and Algeria will continue their cooperation regarding the Libyan conflict, as the war-torn country has entered a political process toward normalization following a decade of chaos, Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum stated, adding that Ankara and Algiers also look to further bilateral ties.
"We continuously discuss these with Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu," Boukadoum said, reiterating that the Libyan issue was also one of the main topics discussed during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Algiers in January.
"We try to convince each other and everyone else that it is in the interest of everyone that we have peace in Libya," the minister underlined.
Boukadoum touched on a recent positive development in the country – an interim government was selected to lead Libya toward elections in December this year.
"There is no war, which is a good thing. So it's peaceful right now for the last five-six months," he added and said that Algeria is stepping up efforts for reconciliation in the North African country.
"We have a good relationship with everyone in Libya."
In April, Boukadoum had underlined during a visit to Tripoli the importance of pursuing efforts to restore security and stability in neighboring Libya and consolidating bilateral relations. Algeria has also reportedly offered a reconciliation conference for the conflicting parties in the country.
Baoukadoum furthermore expressed support for the upcoming Berlin conference on Libya – the second one of its kind.
"We hope when we continue to talk to our Libyan brethren we can continue this path."
"We have one government accepted by everyone, the United Nations. We have to be optimistic. The situation is very complicated, it is not easy. We have confidence in the Libyans themselves before anyone else," Boukadoum highlighted.
Germany will seek to broker lasting peace in Libya on Wednesday, gathering world powers in Berlin to extract a firm promise to withdraw foreign fighters and keep the North African country on track for its Dec. 24 election.
Efforts to end the decadelong spiral of violence in Libya will bring the country's transitional government, as well as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to Berlin for the in-person U.N.-sponsored talks.
A formal truce was agreed on last October that led to the creation of a transitional government under Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah and a presidential council headed by Mohammad Younes Menfi, which have promised to hold polls.
However, the U.N. has warned that progress has stalled, notably on a key requisite of the polls – the pullout of all foreign soldiers.
Another challenge is putschist Khalifa Haftar, who attacked the capital Tripoli in 2019 and continues to act with his militia.
Most recently, Haftar’s forces closed the border with Algeria, after Algerian President Abdelmedjid Tebboune stated that Algiers was ready to send troops to Tripoli if necessary.
On the other side, Boukadoum also indicated that Algeria eyes to further bilateral relations with Turkey in several fields including the economy and trade.
Already enjoying friendly ties, Algeria and Turkey are set to develop the already existing cooperation.
"We hope to have a deeper relationship. In the economy, I think Turkey is the second investor in Algeria after the European Union. We hope to have more and more Turkish companies investing and being present," Boukadoum stated.
"We will be very happy to see more Turks in Algeria."
Regarding the defense industry, the minister stated that Turkish companies are highly welcomed.