Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s four-day tour of Libya and Egypt has drawn close attention in Athens, where officials view it as part of Ankara’s effort to rebuild ties with key regional actors.
In Libya, Fidan visited both Tripoli and Benghazi, meeting Presidential Council head Mohamed al-Menfi, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and Turkish forces based in Tripoli. The most notable part of the trip came in eastern Libya, where he held talks with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, his sons Saddam and Belkacem, and House of Representatives speaker Aguila Saleh Issa.
Presenting the tour under the slogan “One Libya,” Fidan repeatedly stressed support for Libyan unity. For Greece, however, the central issue is whether Turkey is pressing eastern Libyan leaders to ratify the Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum, which was signed by Ankara and Tripoli but has never been approved by the parliament now based in Benghazi. Fidan also visited the mausoleum of Omar al-Mukhtar, a symbol of Libya’s anti-colonial struggle.
Ankara’s approach has shifted somewhat since Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency, with Turkish officials aligning positions with those voiced by American officials, particularly envoy Massad Boulos, on Libya. In April, the US Africa Command’s Flintlock ’26 exercise included joint participation by forces from Benghazi and Tripoli as well as Turkey and Egypt.
