ANKARA, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Turkish parliament on Tuesday extended a troop deployment mandate in Libya for another 18 months.
The motion said that risks and threats continue emanating from Libya for the entire region, including Turkey.
"If the attacks against the legitimate government start again, Turkey's interests both in the Mediterranean basin and in North Africa will be adversely affected," it said, adding that Turkish troops would continue to provide military training and consultancy in the country.
The request was supported by the ruling Justice and Development Party, Nationalist Movement Party and Good Party, while the Republican People's Party and the Peoples' Democratic Party objected to the motion.
In 2019, Ankara and Libya's UN-recognized government of national accord signed two memorandums of understanding on military cooperation and maritime boundaries in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey's troop deployment mandate came into force in January 2020 after the agreement.
Turkish military support helped the Tripoli-based government gain leverage against the forces loyal to Libya's eastern military commander Khalifa Hifter.
The North African country has been suffering escalating violence and political instability ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. ■
