Libya plans to take several measures against Ankara after shipments carrying weapons from Turkey have been repeatedly seized in the past weeks at Libyan ports, said Saturday Media Advisor for the House of Representatives (HoR) Fathi Al-Marimi.
In a press statement, Marimi said the HoR committees of defense and foreign affairs are willing to take actions against Turkey.
He accused Turkey of hindering the steps taken by Libya to bring about stability by sending weapons and ammunition to Libya and create chaos.
This statement came three days after Libyan National Army (LNA)’s spokesperson Ahmed Al-Mismari called upon the international community to launch an investigation into Turkish weapon shipments seized at Libyan ports.
“A large amount of funding has been provided to terrorists in Turkey, which became a base for launching terrorist operations and a media platform that broadcasts messages against Libya and its army,” Mismari said during a press conference in Benghazi.
In the past three weeks, Libyan authorities foiled an attempt to smuggle shipments of Turkish arms into Libya through the port of Misurata and Khoms, marking “another violation by Turkey” of the U.N. resolution banning the sale and transfer of arms to Libya.
The Misurata port’s customs office said in a statement that it had “managed to seize on 7 January a shipment of weapons containing Turkish pistols inside a container with some household items and children’s toys used as camouflage.”
It added that 556 cartons, each containing 36 pistols, which is equivalent to about 20,000 pistols, were seized.
Further, the LNA announced on 18 December seizing Turkish weapons and ammunition believed to be related to the ongoing assassinations and violence in Tripoli.
On the same day, the Customs Authority announced that a large amount of weapons and ammunition smuggled from Turkey were seized by customs employees at Khoms port.
After this incident, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited Tripoli on 22 December, where he said Turkey is investigating how weapons and ammunition were loaded in shipments traveling from Turkey to Libya.
He agreed with Presidency Council chairperson Faiez Sarraj to launch joint investigations to reveal all details behind the two shipments.
