Turkey
reopened its embassy in Libya on Monday, 2-1/2 years after closing it due to
the security situation, the Turkish foreign ministry said, as diplomatic
missions begin
to reopen in the divided country.
Turkey closed
the embassy in Tripoli in 2014 as rival factions battled three years after
rebels toppled long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi. Italy reopened its embassy
earlier this month.
"The
reopening of the embassy will allow Turkey to make stronger contributions to
efforts to build peace and stability, as well as reconstruction in Libya,"
the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
Both Libya and
Tripoli itself are home to myriad armed groups with shifting and conflicting
loyalties that have sought to fill the power vacuum created when Gaddafi was
killed.
In 2014,
fighting between armed alliances backing opposing political factions resulted
in rival governments being set up in the capital and the east. Since March last
year a third, U.N.-backed government has been trying to establish itself in
Tripoli, but it has been unable to win support from all groups.
"Turkey
will continue to support the territorial integrity and national unity of
brotherly Libya," the statement said.
Turkey's
ambassador had been based in Tunisia during the embassy's closure, while the
Turkish consulate general in the western city of Misrata had remained open
without interruption.
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