Turkey’s Ambassador to Tunisia Omer Farouk Dogan denied on Wednesday that his country transferred Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/Daesh/IS) terrorists from Syria to Libya.
Dogan told the Tunisian newspaper Al-Chourouk that all of these allegations are ‘lies’ that hold no credibility.
The source “did not verify the authenticity of the information which was built on false statements,” the diplomat stressed in the statement.
The Tunisian daily cited statements by Ahmad al-Mesmari, a spokesman for East Libya-based forces, in which he claimed that there were “open lines” to provide weapons and fighters from Turkey and Malta to the Tripoli-based government.
“The baseless allegations do not serve peace in the region, nor the Tunisian-Turkish relations, but weaken them, especially at a time the entire region needs solidarity,” Dogan said.
The Turkish envoy warned that such false news “leads to mislead the Tunisian public opinion, to which we attach a great importance”.
“Turkey has always defended the stability of Libya, which it considers a brotherly country like Tunisia, with both Turkey shares a common culture and history,” he said.
“Turkey has always maintained close ties with Libya and that political dialogue is the solution,” the diplomat stressed.
Dogan said Turkey favors a political settlement in Libya that does involve violence, while also claiming that his government is defending the unity of Syria and Iraq.
“Turkey also defends the unity of Syria and Iraq, and all countries that see conflicts,” Dogan said.
Source: AMN
