Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called for a permanent ceasefire in Libya following a meeting in Ankara on Monday.

“We are exerting efforts for the ceasefire to be permanent,” Erdogan said in a televised press conference a day after a fragile truce was established.

“We have discussed the urgent necessity of putting an end to the escalation on the ground to guarantee a lasting ceasefire,” Conte said.

“The ceasefire might result in a precarious measure if it isn’t included in a larger collective effort of the international community aimed at guaranteeing the unity, stability, sovereignty of Libya,” he added.

Erdogan and Conte were meeting as the heads of Libya’s warring parties came together in Russia, where they were expected to sign an agreement ahead of an international summit due later this month in Berlin.

Erdogan said he hoped United Nations forces would help enforce the ceasefire.

“Right now talks are continuing in Moscow,” he said. “I have information from my friends a while ago that the talks are continuing in the positive direction.

“I think it will be a right move if the UN is tasked as an observer to strongly maintain the peace process.”

Source: AFP