Turkey to send special envoy to Libya

Turkey will send special envoy to southern Libya, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.

Emrullah Isler, former deputy prime minister and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy, was assigned as a special representative of Turkey to hold meetings with Libyan authorities and convey Turkey's views.

"We must be impartial towards all parties in Libya," Cavusoglu said, stressing that foreign countries should not interfere in Libya's internal conflict.

Isler earlier paid two visits to Libya in 2014 and met with rival parties there. He is also the first foreign official that met with Libya's self-declared Prime Minister Omar al-Hasi, who set up his own Cabinet in Tripoli and forced earlier Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni to move to eastern Libya.

Libya is now juggling two rival parliaments and governments.

The foreign minister said they could not ignore neither "ruling of Libyan Constitutional Court that invalidated general elections or realities on the ground."

He stressed debate on which authority is legal in Libya is "useless" at the moment, and called for an urgent ceasefire in the country.

Cavusoglu warned against any foreign country's interference in Libya through "providing weapons and launching airstrikes."

The minister's remarks came two days after the Turkish Foreign Ministry warned Turkish citizens in Libya on Wednesday to evacuate there "immediately."

On Wednesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry also said a threat to shoot down Turkish civilian and military aircraft had been posted on a Facebook page allegedly belonging to the Libyan Air Force.

"This irresponsible statement in contravention of international law is totally unacceptable," the ministry stated in a written statement.

Libya has been facing heavy fierce fighting between national army and militias following a bloody uprising in 2011 that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi. Endit