Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said his country will not refrain from “teaching a lesson” to Khalifa Haftar if his eastern Libyan forces continue attacks against the internationally recognized government in Tripoli. Turkey and Russia failed to convince Haftar on Monday to sign a binding truce to halt his nine-month campaign to try to conquer the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Erdoğan said in a televised speech from Ankara: “We will not hesitate to teach a deserved lesson to the putschist Haftar if he continues his attacks on the country’s legitimate administration and our brothers in Libya.”“The putschist Haftar did not sign the ceasefire. Haftar first asked for some time to study the document, before he abruptly left Moscow without signing the deal. According to media reports, Libya’s renegade military commander criticized the content of the agreement that, he said, ignores many of the Libyan army’s demands.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 15, 2020 16:18 UTC