Turkey and Qatar to help establish regular Libyan army

Turkey and Qatar will help restructure forces loyal to Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) into a regular army based on the model that Turkey used to train the military of Azerbaijan after it became an independent country, Turkey’s Daily Sabah newspaper reported on 19 August.

Libyan soldiers train in Isparta, Turkey. (Turkish Ministry of Defence)

The three-way agreement was announced on 17 August after talks in Tripoli between GNA Deputy Defence Minister Salah al-Namroush, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, and Qatari Defence Minister Khalid bin Muhammad al-Attiyah.

Namroush said both Turkey and Qatar will send military advisors and personnel to Libya. Akar said Turkey will provide all kinds of support for the GNA so the Libyan people can regain security and stability.

Daily Sabah , a pro-government newspaper, reported that Turkish military advisors and staff will soon arrive at the Defence Security Cooperation and Training Assistance Advisory Command that was established as part of a memorandum of understanding signed by Turkey and Libya in November 2019.