Turkey has begun providing military training to 120 soldiers in the Libyan Army under the command of the Government of National Accord (GNA), the Turkish Defence Ministry announced on Monday.
The training, held in the Tajoura Joint Land Training and Exercise Centre in Libya, is geared to bringing the GNA army up to international standards, the ministry said in a statement on Twitter.
Ankara throws its weight behind Libya’s U.N.-recognised GNA, bolstering the GNA-allied forces with Turkish drones, armoured vehicles, military advisers and Syrian mercenaries against the Russian and Egyptian-backed Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Turkish support earlier this year helped the internationally-recognised GNA reverse a 14-month assault on Tripoli by Haftar’s rival self-styled LNA.
Last November, Turkey announced agreements with the GNA on maritime border demarcation and military intervention in the oil rich North African country.