Turkey says Libya will unify soon

ISTANBUL:

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday that the time had come to reunify Libya's rival eastern and western administrations, indicating that the militaries of both sides could come under a unified command and expressing hope that an announcement on the issue would be made in the near future.

Turkey backed the UN-recognised government in Tripoli, but ties with authorities in eastern Libya have warmed significantly in recent years. On Tuesday, Libya's eastern-based parliament approved a maritime demarcation deal with Turkey.

"We have now reached a stage where the conditions are ripe to permanently secure the reunification of the east and the west," Fidan told journalists. "Both sides have military structures. These structures need to be brought together under a national army," he added.