Turkey turns to U.S. to ‘play more active role’ in achieving Libya cease-fire

Turkey on Thursday issued new calls to the U.S. to step in to conduct cease-fire and political negotiations in Libya.

Libya — which has been locked in a civil war since 2014 — has gone without a stable government since a 2011 rebellion ousted and killed long-time Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

The United Nations in recent years recognized a Libyan government in Tripoli born out of U.N.-mediated talks in 2015. Qatar and Italy have supported Tripoli, although Turkey has emerged as its biggest backer. On the other side, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, France and Egypt are seen to back rebel commander Khalifa Haftar.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a television interview that U.S. involvement in the dispute is vital to protecting interests of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of which the U.S. and Turkey are both member nations.

“For some reason, the United States has not been that active in Libya, perhaps because of past traumas,” he said, as quoted by Reuters. “The United States needs to play a more active role, both for achieving a cease-fire and in the political process.”

His comments came just one day after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo encouraged the restarting of U.N. peacekeeping talks between both sides in Libya and called for a cease-fire to be reached quickly.

The Trump administration has been notably slow to respond to the ongoing conflict, although administration officials have offered rhetorical support over the past year to both sides.

While Washington has preferred to stay out of the dispute, President Trump on Monday reportedly discussed the possibilities of becoming involved in the matter with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.